The Reality of a Clan's Hatred
by Sunnyappleseeds
Summary: Sasuke murders Orochimaru for tormenting him; after this goal is accomplished, he moves on to avenge his clan. The battle ensues with Sasuke as the victor, but his world is shaken when he learns the truth. He believes his brother to be dead and turns to revenge; however, Itachi's death was never made a reality. Oro/Sasu non-con! You've been warned...
1. Chapter 1

**This is another fanfiction that has Orochimaru and Sasuke non-con. I can't help that it's enjoyable to write, and based ont eh 4,000+ views I got on the last one, I think you guys must like it too ;) haha! We all suspected it, so I don't see why I can't write about it.**

**I don't own Naruto if you didn't know :) haha**

It had been nearly three years since Sasuke Uchiha defected from his home to train with the Sannin who identified with serpents. The young man had grown strong through honing his skills with the older male; however, the Sannin's aid came at a steep price.

When the Uchiha had arrived several years ago, Orochimaru sexually violated him; a practice that could still be witnessed in the present. The experiences were pure torture for Sasuke, but after a period of time he began to comply in order to undergo the least amount of pain.

At the current time, Sasuke could be found sitting in a dull bedroom. He was lying on the thin cousin that was supposedly a mattress. He was completely exposed and covered in a mix of sweat from his master and himself; the result of his recent interaction with Orochimaru. As the broken Uchiha rested from today's session of suffering, he thought over the previous months he endured.

-_flashback _-

_It was nearly a month after Sasuke had arrived at Orochimaru's underground lair. The training was rigorous, but the boy was still unhappy with his progress. He compared his own advancements with those of his former comrade, Naruto, and was displeased with the how his development had crawled when weighed against the other's._

_ Dissatisfied with this, Sasuke went to Orochimaru's personal quarters to discuss this matter. The boy, only thirteen at the time, entered the Sannin's room and saw his master analyzing some sort of scroll while seated behind a desk on the adjacent wall._

_ "What is it that you want, Sasuke?" The pale man looked up from his studies._

_ "I'm not accomplishing anything by being here," the younger scowled, "I came here to get stronger, but this is proving to be a waste."_

_ Orochimaru thought over the child's words, "You have only been here for a month, my boy. Power cannot be notably gained in such a short time frame."_

_ "It'll never be gained if you just sit around like this."_

_ The Sannin placed his document on the surface before him and rose to his feet. He walked over to the glaring boy and placed a hand on Sasuke's petite shoulder. "So you want me to give you more attention, dear Sasuke?" Orochimaru purred._

_ The Uchiha was unsettled by the touch and gaze the snake focused on him, but continued to stare icily at the pale man. Before he was given an opportunity to reply, Orochimaru's serpentine tongue slithered down to his face. Sasuke pulled back from the creepy action of the older male but was restrained from recoiling by Orochimaru's firm hold on his shoulder._

_ Sasuke gripped the other's hand and attempted to pry him off. The Uchiha's strength was not enough to break the grasp Orochimaru had on him. "What are you doing? Let go!" _

_ Instead of following the boy's orders, the snake man used his other hand to start tearing the Uchiha's shirt off. "What's the matter, Sasuke? I thought you wanted my attention." Orochimaru sneered._

_ The young boy was appalled by the words and actions of the Sannin. He tried to seize the hands that tugged his shirt away, but the effort to halt the limbs was pointless as the boy was inferior when it came to brute force._

_ After his torso was exposed, Sasuke felt the palms of Orochimaru roam down his chest to his shorts. The younger's confusion was turned to revulsion as he began to understand his master's objective. With Orochimaru's hands fixated on a different target, Sasuke saw his chance to run. Sensing his pupil's intent, Orochimaru spoke._

_ "I wouldn't try to flee if I were you."_

_ Every muscle in the youth's body froze when Orochimaru's voice seeped into his mind. Sasuke commanded his body to move, but it did not respond as it was paralyzed with terror. A moment of pure horror came to Sasuke as the Sannin completed exposing his inexperienced body. _

_ Orochimaru curled his lips into a foul grin upon seeing the young male's unclothed figure. The expression spread over his face caused Sasuke to involuntarily tremble. "You shouldn't let yourself become so frightened, my boy." The pale man emphasized that Sasuke was his possession through his words. _

_ The doomed Uchiha did not respond to the statement; instead, he let his gaze fall to the ground. He did not want to look at the man who was placing his hands back onto his exposed body. In an instant, the boy was facing the opposite direction with Orochimaru pressing his still clothed figure into his backside. Though the elder remained in his attire, the firm arousal was obvious. The feeling of his master's covered erection pulsing against his lower back was repulsive to the Uchiha. He tried to evade the bulge on his rear, but was firmly held against Orochimaru. _

_ Sasuke could not picture a worse feeling until the stimulated shaft was uncovered and held just outside his opening. The thick member slowly forced itself inside the youth's inflexible hole. As Sasuke felt the flesh stretch and rip through him, he cried out in agony. The pain was intense and only heightened as the organ continued further into him. _

_ "Stop!" Sasuke screeched as Orochimaru withdrew and slammed in again. "Please, stop!" The boy begged. Orochimaru paused his thrusts; he pulled his student to the large bed in the room and pushed the boy onto his stomach in the center of the mattress. After positioning himself over top of the shivering Uchiha, he impaled his shaft in Sasuke again. _

_ Sasuke did not attempt to hold back his screams as blood ran down his thighs. Orochimaru's pace increased rapidly as he approached the peak of his assault. The fast rate of thrusts caused the young victim's pain to rise; this was apparent by the shrieks of terror ripping out of his throat. When Sasuke thought he was about to black out from the torture, the Sannin stopped his motion. _

_ The full weight of the man's body smashed Sasuke into the bed. He could barely breathe with his face being shoved against the mattress by Orochimaru's larger body. As he struggled to get air, Sasuke could feel warm liquid mix with the blood in his abused entrance. The semen from Orochimaru spilled down his thighs and blended with the crimson fluid on the sheets below. _

_ Finally satisfied, along with realizing he was suffocating Sasuke, Orochimaru rolled to the side. The young boy pushed himself up and desperately gasped for oxygen. He breathing was ragged and labored for several minutes. The Sannin watched his pupil choke from his position several inches away. After finally regaining his breath, Sasuke began to get up and flee from Orochimaru, but before he could fully stand, the boy was pulled back onto the bedding._

_ His dull eyes met the illuminated orbs of his attacker. "It's rude to just run off." The Sannin informed Sasuke. The younger did not attempt to fight Orochimaru due to his fear of being forced into another affair. Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to will the prior event away, but his search for peace was met by something slinking up his cheek. His eyes shot open and caught sight of that repulsive tongue again. Sasuke used his arms to move away from the expanding muscle. He only managed to inch away before Orochimaru captured him in his arms. He was pulled on top of the Sannin and bound from movement by the elder's limbs. That disgusting tongue entered the boy's mouth and began to explore; before it got too far, it quickly retreated. Orochimaru removed his unnaturally long and flexible muscle the instant he noticed Sasuke's reaction to the intrusion. Mere seconds after he withdrew from the boy, the Uchiha vomited violently._

_ The repulsive fluid splattered onto Orochimaru and the surrounding linens. The snake pushed Sasuke, who continued to heave, to the side and called for Kabuto. The young man entered the room and was slightly disturbed at the sight. Seeing Sasuke unclothed and nearly passed out was not what bothered him since he expected no less from his lord; the bothersome view was Orochimaru covered in Sasuke's upheaval. _

_ "I want you to take him to his room and clean up this mess," Orochimaru said motioning to the various liquids spread on the sheets, "I'm going to bathe." _

_ -end flashback-_

The last thing Sasuke could remember was Orochimaru stating his orders and then leaving the room. It seemed that he had blacked out after being wounded and exhausted. The days of illness caused from Orochimaru were long gone; since the Uchiha had been through years of this torment, the pain decreased and he managed to stomach the constant intrusions. The actual affairs continued to the present, however. Sasuke knew that this would come to a close soon, though. After all, the teen had gotten much stronger during his years with Orochimaru, and Orochimaru's body was beginning to reject him. This gave Sasuke the perfect opportunity to slay the snake…


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the late update! I've been quite busy lately with finals and all... I hope you enjoy!**

Sasuke was recovering from Orochimaru's entry in the early hours of the morning when he heard footsteps approach him. He did not turn away from the wall he faced since he was certain it was only Orochimaru who was back for another round. But the voice that entered was not of his master.

"Sit up; I'm supposed to heal you." Kabuto said.

Sasuke flipped over to view the medical ninja. "Why are you bothering me so early? I'm trying to sleep."

"I'm not here of my own accord. I have orders to fix the wounds you got from Orochimaru last night. I need you to undress." Kabuto ordered. Sasuke rolled back over to look at the more appealing view of the wall.

"I'm going to sleep now. Get out."

Kabuto came over to the young teen and began to undo Sasuke's pants. He intentions were only to heal his rear but the Uchiha was taken back by the invasive action. He grabbed Kabuto's hands and shoved him away. "What are you doing?" He howled.

"I'm just trying to carry out my orders, and since you won't remove your clothes on your own, I decided that I would."

"You should get out before I break your arms." Sasuke snorted.

Kabuto was outraged by sasukes comment. He was just fulfilling his duty and ended up getting degraded and bruised by the teen. "You know, if you didn't have such an attitude, I wouldn't have to! You put yourself in this situation so take responsibility for your actions. Don't blame me for the life you hate!"

This statement made sasuke snap. In an instant, he was gripping kabutos throat and squeezing the air out of him. He mashed the older man into the wall as he closes his airways. Just when sasuke was about to end it, orochimaru appeared in the doorway.

"Sasuke, it wouldn't be wise to kill kabuto." The Uchiha looked over at the snake who seemed to be enjoying the scene before him. He reluctantly dropped the medic to the ground. "Come along now, boy. I would enjoy some personal time with you."

Sasuke was repulsed by the way orochimaru referred to the violation and abuse but followed him anyway. They made their way down corridor after corridor, finally reaching their destination.

The two makes arrived at the usual place for their interactions; though, they were only considered torture sessions to the Uchiha. "Tell me something, Sasuke. Why do you dislike Kabuto so much?"

"He's annoying." Sasuke replied with his usual emotionless voice.

"I'm sure he feels the same about you. Though I believe he's just jealous of the special treatment you receive from me." Orochimaru smirked placing his hands on Sasuke's shoulders. He slowly pushed the white fabric down his arms, revealing Sasuke's back and full chest.

The boy did not let it show, but he was extremely angered by his master's words. If Kabuto wanted to take this torture from him, Sasuke would not stand in the way. However, Orochimaru would not trade this perfect body he longed after for so many years for the medic who followed him like a lost puppy.

Sasuke's suspicion was confirmed when Orochimaru spoke again. "I would much rather have relations with you, though." His icy hands roamed lower down Sasuke's body. It made the Uchiha uncomfortable, but he did not want to cause Orochimaru to become angry with him again. He learned his lesson about that during his first few months of being in this forbidden place.

_-flashback-_

_The sexual torment had been going on for a while before Sasuke took action against it. The first few times, any protesting was simply ignored and over powered, but this particular instance was the time that changed the nature of Orochimaru's attacks. _

_It was an extremely in eventful day at the hideout; Sasuke had not even gotten his usual training time in. In fact, he had just been sitting in his bed pondering how to take down his brother for hours on end. Being in a foul mood from thinking if his horrible sibling made his anger towards seeing the Sannin enter his room even greater._

_"I haven't seen you at all this afternoon, dear Sasuke. What have you been doing?" Orochimaru asked. _

_"This."_

_"How interesting... For constantly thirsting for more power, it is rather strange to find you simply sitting around."_

_Sasuke didn't answer. He just sighed and looked away as Orochimaru began to undress himself and approach the bed. The Sannin moved Sasuke into an accessible position and ripped at his clothes. Before he pushed in, Sasuke flopped around so Orochimaru could not gain entry. _

_"Come now Sasuke... Don't be so difficult today." He purred into his pupil's ear. _

_Sasuke shot daggers with his eyes. "Leave me alone." _

_"What's that, boy?" _

_"I said get out." Sasuke repeated and pulled his attire back on. "I'm not doing this anymore. I'm not your slave." _

_"You came here so you could get strong. If you truly want that, you must submit to me." Orochimaru was beginning to become angry with Sasuke. It was not the student's place to call the shots. _

_"Seeking out your help shouldn't include this. This is disgusting and I'm not going to go along with it." Sasuke hissed, though he had never really gone along with it willingly, this was his first successful attempt at repelling the snake. _

_Orochimaru scowled at the young boy. He seized Sasuke's arms and pinned him down on the mattress. "You will not speak in such a way. You do not have the right to refuse me." _

_"If that was the case, I wouldn't be!" Sasuke spit back. He struggled under the weight of Orochimaru, who was now fully on top of him to hold him down. _

_"I have been generous with this thus far, but if you continue to make such a fuss, you will regret it." Orochimaru threatened. _

_"Whatever..." Sasuke replied and continued to struggle. As far as he knew, the pain was already as awful as it could be. He had no idea that it was going to get much worse. _

_Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the wriggling teen. "Fine, but remember that you caused this." _

_Sasuke's eyes grew wide when he was stripped out of his clothes once more. Threatening this man when he was still so much weaker was a horrible idea. The Uchiha began to tremble uncontrollably when Orochimaru pulled a kunai off of the small bedside table. With the full weight of the pale man still holding him down, Sasuke knew that he could not escape from the torment to come. _

_As Orochimaru twirled the weapon in his hand, Sasuke panicked. "Please! I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" He shrieked as the man dragged the knife across the young boy's face, being careful not to leave a mark yet. _

_Orochimaru's lips turned into a cruel grin. "You want me to stop? I haven't even done anything yet."_

_"Please, don't..." Sasuke begged as tears filled his eyes. The snake, who was crushing him by sitting over him, continued to gain joy from his fear. _

_"What is it that you want, my dear Sasuke?"_

_The boy did not know how to answer. He wanted the man to get off of him; no, he wanted to go back and stop himself from ever coming here, but both possibilities were out of the question. "What do you want from me, Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked again. _

_"I- please... please don't..." _

_"That's not an answer. Do you want this kunai inside of you?"_

_"No!" Asking him these questions was cruel. Orochimaru had already reduced the boy to begging. _

_"Would you rather have me inside of you, dear boy?" The Sannin whispered in his victim's ear. _

_A shutter ran through Sasuke's body. Even though it was not new, the thought of such a thing was repugnant. He did not want to answer, but he was aware that it was either the man's shaft or that blunt object. Suppressing the water that begged to roll down his cheeks, he choked out his answer. "Yes..." _

_The relief when Orochimaru put down the knife was not nearly as great as it should have been since Sasuke knew that he was still going to be violated. "I'm not surprised." Orochimaru laughed and rolled the Uchiha onto his stomach once more. He lifted the majority of his weight off of Sasuke and got into a position of easy access. _

_Sasuke could not hold back the tears when Orochimaru sheathed himself inside of Sasuke's rear. Before now, Orochimaru usually attempted to be humane when taking him on, but this time he mercilessly pounded into the boy. _

_The agony grew worse with each thrust. Failing to successfully keep a scream in his throat, Sasuke yowled in pain. Fortunately for Sasuke, Orochimaru was quick to climax from his animalistic movements. _

_The two panted in unison as they both released fluid from their bodies; however, Sasuke's body only allowed blood to escape. _

_Instead of pulling completely out as one normally would, Orochimaru kept his member in the poor child. The Sannin put his mass onto Sasuke again and leaned so he was near less than an inch from his ear. "I sincerely hope you're enjoying yourself since this is going to continue for a while," Orochimaru breathed causing Sasuke to renew his sense of terror, "this is what you get for trying to deny me your body."_

_-end flashback-_

The degrading experience that happened that day taught Sasuke to go along with any thing Orochimaru wanted, especially since he may not give Sasuke the choice of the knife next time.

Instead of fighting, Sasuke laid on the bed silently and endured the pain. Sometimes he would cry out, but he mostly bit back the yelps.

After the intercourse was finished at the current time, Orochimaru instructed Sasuke to stay in the bed with him. This did not occur all of the time, but it was one of the most detestable events. Orochimaru enveloped the boy in his arms and pulled him snugly against his exposed form.

Sasuke was pressed into the snake's chest as his hands wandered over the young boy's body. The feel of Orochimaru's palms rubbing every part of his body was truly disgusting, but to the Sannin it was ecstasy being able to roam the perfect body that would one day be his.

While Orochimaru continued to fondle the boy that was held tightly against him, Kabuto entered the room. Though Sasuke hated the medical ninja seeing him so exposed and violated, Orochimaru did not mind the other witnessing the act. In fact, the Sannin seemed to enjoy Kabuto's resentment towards the situation.

"My Lord-" Kabuto began but was quickly interrupted.

"Kabuto, can't you see I'm busy?" Sasuke cringed in his arms.

"Forgive me, Lord Orochimaru, but I have an important matter to discuss with you."

"I'm sure it can wait. Sasuke is my priority at the moment." He grinned sickly as his tongue joined his hands. The undesired touch made Sasuke groan in disgust.

"It can't wait. It is extremely urgent." Kabuto emphasized.

"Well it seems that this must be cut short, dear Sasuke." Orochimaru snickered knowing full well that his young pupil hated the treatment. He released Sasuke from his grasp. The Uchiha fled quickly back to his room and flopped onto his bed. The blood that was running down his thighs had dried, but he was too utterly exhausted to bathe, even after his previous affair.

In Orochimaru's private room, Kabuto continued to address the issue at hand. "So you're telling me that we have intruders in the village?" Orochimaru inquired as he slipped his garments back on.

"So it would seem, and from what I have gathered, these people are not just the average group of travelers. This group is the remains of team seven: otherwise known as Sasuke's former team."

**Please review! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Please review! It gives me input on how I'm doing and makes the story better and progress faster!**

"So Sasuke's former team is here?" Orochimaru asked. "How interesting..."

"We need to keep an eye out for them, surely you haven't forgotten the last time we fought them. You barely got away from his four tails form," Kabuto responded, "and not only that, it's quite clear that they are still after Sasuke, especially since they saw him that time."

"Yes... This is true." Orochimaru agreed. "However, I don't believe that young Sasuke would return to them since Itachi is still living."

"I agree, but those leaf shinobi won't give up on him so easily."

"Make sure Sasuke stays inside until we deal with team Kakashi. Understood?"

"I'll make sure." Kabuto nodded.

The next day arrived quickly since Sasuke had fallen asleep after he fled from Orochimaru's room. Since he did not want to spend the whole day being abused again, Sasuke decided to go to ground level and train alone. As he journeyed to the outside realm, Kabuto intercepted him.

"Where are you going so early?" He interrogated.

"Hn."

"You wouldn't happen to be going outside would you?"

"What's it matter to you?"

"Lord Orochimaru gave me orders to keep you in for a while."

"And I'm supposed to obey you?" Sasuke squinted. "What a joke." He continued his path to the exit, but Kabuto stood in his way.

"I can't let you leave."

"If you don't move, I will choke you."

Kabuto smirked. "You seem to think you're so much better than everyone else. You're forgetting that I'm a skilled ninja, too."

"Don't make me laugh." Sasuke retorted.

"Perhaps my strength or speed doesn't match yours, but I could strike you once and you wouldn't be able to move; I am a medical ninja."

"I couldn't care less. I'm going now."

"I'm going to give you one more chance. I have good reasons for keeping you here. If you don't listen, I'm going to disable you and turn you over to Lord Orochimaru."

The threat went deep into Sasuke's mind. He was going out to avoid that, but he was well aware that Kabuto was capable of following through with his threat. Either of the above situations would lead to the same thing, so Sasuke decided to try to escape. He took off towards the exit with Kabuto in pursuit. If he could make it outside, he was sure he could lose the medic, but the disabling blow came before he made it. Even though he failed, Sasuke felt somewhat accomplished for trying.

"I warned you; now you're going to visit Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto taunted. Sasuke glared up, but the hit from Kabuto severely affected the flow of his chakra and he couldn't move. He dreaded what Orochimaru would do, but decided it wouldn't be much worse than usual.

When he was finally dragged into Orochimaru's room, Kabuto spoke again. "He was trying to leave. I caught him just before he got out."

"I guess I expected that... He usually goes out to train early, and he doesn't respect you at all." Orochimaru lifted Sasuke off of the floor and onto the bed. "This works out, too. You can leave us, Kabuto."

Kabuto nodded and exited the room. Orochimaru began to degrade Sasuke again and decided that for disobeying his orders, he had a just reason for being rough.

-a different area of the hideout-

"We have to find Sasuke this time!" Naruto shouted.

"Shut up! Orochimaru will be onto us if you keep screaming!" Sakura replied.

"Okay guys, we can't waste any time. We need to locate Sasuke." Kakashi added. He felt as though he had to find his former student since he missed the last mission. If he had been there, maybe the outcome would have differed.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi looked at the two of them. "I think we should stick together. If Orochimaru finds us, we'll be in trouble. So we-"

An atrocious scream rang throughout the lair at that moment, cutting Kakashi off mid sentence. Three pairs of eyes widened as they recognized the voice.

"Sasuke!" They all said in unison and dashed in the direction of the noise. Kakashi held out his hand to halt them when they reached the room the cry came from.

"We need to be cautious; Sasuke wouldn't scream like that if he was alone." Kakashi warned.

"That's exactly why we need to get in there now!" Naruto whisper-shouted.

"No! We don't know what's going on in there. We need to wait." He stressed.

Naruto hesitantly agreed before the next cry came. "Please! Stop!" Sakura cringed at the sound of Sasuke in pain. The only time she had ever heard him scream so harshly was during the chunin exams.

"What's wrong, dear Sasuke? You need to collect yourself. You haven't screamed this much in months." Orochimaru's voice joined in. The three leaf shinobi listened intently to find out what was going on, but it was difficult to tell.

"Please! Please don't do this!" Sasuke shrieked.

"If you hadn't disobeyed me and tried to leave this morning, I wouldn't be so rough with you." This statement allowed Kakashi to start piecing it together.

"I wasn't trying to run away!" Sasuke wailed. "I was going to train; that's all!"

"I sent Kabuto to stop you, and you didn't listen. That was defying my direct command. You know the consequences for that kind of action."

"I'll do anything else! This is too much!" It was in that moment that Kakashi had figured it out completely.

"You need to relax, my dear boy. If you don't struggle, it won't be as bad."

"Kakashi sensei, what do you think is happening in there?" Sakura asked frantically.

Kakashi could not answer. How could he tell the girl that was completely infatuated with Sasuke that he was being forced into sexual relations with a man who was much older than even himself? "I'll tell you later; right now, I need to think of a plan to get him out of there."

They stood in silence, besides the yelps coming from their old comrade, for several more minutes. When the screams subsided, Kakashi knew that the door was going to open, and one of two possible people would stumble out. The door slowly creaked open and the three ninja jumped out of sight but managed to watch from the shadows.

Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi stared in horror as an exposed and bloodied Sasuke staggered into the hall. Naruto and Sakura tried to jump to his aid, but they were restrained by Kakashi. If Orochimaru heard the commotion, he would surely come out and fight them. They instead quietly trailed Sasuke back to what they suspected to be his room.

He walked inside and slammed the door behind him. The poor Uchiha laid down on the pathetic excuse for a bed and tried to sleep, but the horrors of the day kept creeping up on him. Sasuke never thought that Orochimaru would actually use the kunai he had threatened him with, but his prior experience proved him wrong. He thoughts stopped when he heard the door open.

"Haven't you had enough for today?" He huffed.

"Sasuke... It's us." Naruto said. Sasuke was startled when he heard his former comrade's voice. He craned his neck from the wall to see his three teammates standing before him. They all stared at his naked figure and examined the blood that covered his legs.

"Why are you here?" He hissed evilly. He did not want to see these people, not now, not until his vendetta had been completed.

"We came here to get you," Kakashi said, "from the looks of it, you need to come with us."

"I can't go with you, haven't I told you that enough already?"

"Sasuke, please, look at yourself. You need to get out of here..." Sakura begged.

Sasuke did look at himself; he was exposed and pathetic looking. He pulled the blanket to cover his private area. "You need to get out of here. All of you!"

"And leave you like this? No way! Not ever!" Naruto protested.

"You don't get it! None of you get it!" Sasuke growled.

"Get what? That Orochimaru is raping you?" Naruto inquired furiously.

"You need to get out of here, Sasuke." Kakashi added.

Sasuke's rage grew as they continued to plead with him. "Don't you think I would have already left if I wanted to?"

Everyone grew silent. That was true. Why hadn't Sasuke left yet? "You mean you want to stay here? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Shut up, Naruto! You'd never understand! I'll do anything I have to in order to erase my brother from the world!"

"How could you say that?" Sakura asked. "Sasuke, Orochimaru did this to you! You can't stay here; I won't let you!"

"It's none of your business!" He shouted. "It's got nothing to do with any of you, so stay out of it! You might still consider me a member of your ridiculous little team, but I've moved on from that. I can't get any thing else from you pathetic individuals."

They were all taken aback by his statement. "If you really cut those ties, then why-" Naruto was interrupted by Sasuke.

"If you don't all get out, I'm going to fight you." He threatened, though in his state it was a hollow threat.

"You can barely stand up straight, and you expect us to fight you? How about we knock you out and drag you back?" The blond suggested violently.

"Go ahead and try it. That is if you really want to tangle with Orochimaru." Sasuke retorted. "Even Kakashi couldn't take him down, and he's considered to be elite."

"He's right..." Kakashi admitted. "If we start anything, Orochimaru is sure to get involved. He'd do just about anything to keep his hold on Sasuke."

"But we can't just leave him here!" Naruto and Sakura cried out.

"He won't come willingly. We don't have a choice right now..."

"Kakashi Sensei! We-"

"Enough, Naruto! We can't risk drawing attention. We have to go back!"

Naruto bit back his words and angrily obliged to leave, his example was followed by Sakura. As they retreated, Naruto spoke once more, "I'm not giving up on you... No matter what happens!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter! I think the part with Kabuto and Sasuke is good. I had fun writing that part!**

Sasuke thought over Naruto's words. He felt bad for not being able to give his friends what they wanted so desperately, but his mission as an avenger took all priority in his life, even if it mean being sexually abused by his master. After a few moments of silence and being thankful that Naruto still shared the bond of friendship with him, Sasuke heard steps rushing down the hall.

"What's going on in here?"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke replied to the silver haired medic.

"I mean I heard voices. What are you doing in here?" Kabuto pried.

Sasuke was not about to give his trusted comrades away, even though he could not consider them allies at the moment. "I've just been lying here. I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Enough of the lies, okay? I heard shouting from in here. One of the voices was yours, and I heard a few other people, but I couldn't make out how many."

"I've been here by myself since Orochimaru told me to leave him alone."

"You take me for a complete fool, don't you?" Kabuto hissed. "I know what I heard... Perhaps I'll have to force you to take this up with Lord Orochimaru. You'd like that, right?"

"You might want to get out now."

"You can whine all you want, Sasuke, but I know that you hate every second Lord Orochimaru gives you. I'll give you one more chance to tell me who was in here."

Sasuke hated that Kabuto had seen him in pain under the Sannin. This gave the medic something to hold over his head, especially since Orochimaru didn't need an excuse to jump on him. "Fine... I'll tell you."

Kabuto smiled. "That's a good boy."

"Those other voices..." Sasuke started, trying to think up a good cover story, "they were... all me. I was... mocking you." The Uchiha kicked himself for such a ridiculous excuse.

Kabuto looked at him awkwardly. "You expect me to believe that?"

"It's true. I... I... I was pretending to be you for fun..." Sasuke stuttered clumsily.

"You were pretending to be me... And you're naked..." Kabuto said.

"Yes..." Sasuke replied. Why was he going to such lengths to save his former comrades' necks? He sounded like a complete lunatic.

"I'm not really sure what I think about that."

"I'm not either." Sasuke agreed.

"Well then... I'll be going now..."

"Kay..." Sasuke sighed. He couldn't believe what he just said to Kabuto. What kind of a cover story was that? At least it managed to get the medic's attention away from the real issue. "I'm losing it..." He mumbled and sank down into the bed.

As he rested in the silence of the night, Sasuke pondered how to kill Orochimaru. He knew that it would be a while before Orochimaru was weak enough to defeat, but he couldn't take another few months of being abused by the Sannin and harassed by Kabuto.

Instead of imagining the next events to come, Sasuke decided to get some food. He hasn't eaten a proper meal in several days. He walked into a room which contained food stuffs near The medical lab. There wasn't anything too appetizing, but anything sounded good to his grumbling stomach. He settled for a simple can of soup and heated it up. It was bland, but didn't taste bad. After finishing it off, the Uchiha left the little area.

While he was walking down the hall, he encountered Orochimaru.

"What are you wandering around at this hour for?" He asked his young pupil.

"I'm going to bed." He replied.

"What I meant was why are you up?"

"I was hungry."

"That's why I am up, too. But I'm not in the mood for food; I was thinking more along the lines of you." Orochimaru purred. Sasuke was utterly disgusted by those words.

The boy sighed as he was lead off to Orochimaru's room. It wasn't like he didn't see this coming, but after the brutal treatment earlier today, Sasuke was hoping to catch a break tonight.

After they were both without clothing, Orochimaru got over Sasuke and entered. It was painful, especially since the treatment he had earlier. He didn't scream this time; instead, Sasuke tried to block out any sense of what was happening to him. This plan failed when Orochimaru spoke. "You have such a fine young body, my dear Sasuke."

Orochimaru forced in and out until he was satisfied again. When Sasuke attempted to get up, Orochimaru ordered him back down. The boy hesitantly returned to lying on the bed. Though having the Sannin so close was disturbing, this bed was much more comforting than his own. He thought that he may be able to fall asleep here, but that changed when Orochimaru placed a possessive hand on him.

Sasuke stayed awake in while the hand rested on him. However, the snake was sleeping. This would be a perfect time to end him, but it was impossible since Sasuke had no weapons on him. It seemed that the next months truly were going to continue in this manner.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! Here is the next chapter! :) I wanted to tell you guys that may be reading that I am not going to include the Sasuke/Deidara fight. That doesn't really fit into where I'm going (well it does but it would take too long to write out and you already know what happens) so let's pretend it already happened and Deidara is dead, okay? Haha sorry**

Another season passed by when Sasuke finally realized he could take his master down. The snake had been secluded in his room for several days and was on much medication to keep him from dying. With lack of strength, Sasuke knew the time to eliminate him was now.

Kabuto had just exited the room in which Orochimaru rested, which gave Sasuke the perfect chance to execute the man. He traveled down the hall and stood before the locked door. Using one of his lightning techniques, Sasuke broke through the door and entered.

Kabuto had finished mixing up the next dose if medicine for Orochimaru and began to walk back down the hall. He noticed the broken door and halted his movements. Getting close enough to peer inside of the room, Kabuto saw Orochimaru's snake form chopped up on the floor.

Sasuke casually strolled by the panicking man who called out. "Which one are you?"

"You tell me." Sasuke replied and used his sharingan to show the medic what had happened. It was terrifying to Kabuto how Sasuke easily destroyed the transference universe.

"So... You killed him?" Kabuto asked.

"It's more like I absorbed his powers." Sasuke corrected. He had no time to waste talking to this fool though, so he left the hideout at once in search of three important people.

-at the Akatsuki lair-

"The sealing of the four tails is to take place at once." Pain instructed the remaining members of his organization. "Before we begin, I have an important matter I must bring up."

"And what would that be?" Kisame asked.

"It has been confirmed that Orochimaru is dead."

"It's about time somebody took out that creep," Kisame said, "so who did him in?"

"It was Itachi's brother: Sasuke Uchiha." The leader answered. Itachi held back the joy he felt. It seemed that the time for his final battle was arriving.

"I wanted to kill him, hn. That kid's gonna get it for taking my chance away." Deidara remarked. "I hope you don't mind that I kill your brother, Itachi."

The older Uchiha remained silent. He was well aware that Deidara was a formidable opponent for his brother, but was not overly concerned with the blonde's claim.

"Anyway, we all know that Sasuke will be targeting you, Itachi. You need to keep an eye out for him."

"There is no need to concern yourself with my brother." He replied to Pain.

The sealing of the tailed beast took several days. By the time it had ended, Sasuke had recruited three special shinobi for his mission to complete his vendetta.

The small group he got together was composed of four shinobi, including himself. Each of the members had unique and promising talents that would guarantee success against his brother, but first they had to locate him. This was more difficult than planned since one if the four constantly had to rehydrate.

"Suigetsu! You are ridiculous! We don't have time to stop every five minutes so you can drink water!" Karin shouted as the swordsman gulped down the fluid.

"If you have a problem with me, you should leave. I thought you said you didn't want to tag along anyway." He retorted.

"Well I changed my mind!"

"And why is that?"

"Why does it matter to you? Just shut up and drink your water before I come over there and smack you!"

"That's enough. Suigetsu, we need to get moving." Sasuke said to the two who glared at each other. When he finished his statement, he noticed that the female member was trying to focus on something.

"Sasuke, I can sense several people coming this way... There are quite a few of them." Karin said to the leader of the small team.

"How many?"

"I would say at least six... No more than that..." She replied trying to concentrate on the surrounding chakra.

"We have to keep moving then... The Akatsuki members only travel with partners so this is most likely not them." Itachi was his only priority at the moment. Whoever was coming after his group could not be dealt with at the time. Especially since he had a hunch that those people were his comrades from the Leaf.

** Please review! Thank you! :) I also want to say that I've been typing most of this story on my phone, so grammar errors are because of auto correct so I'm sorry about that!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here is chapter 6! I wanted to tell you guys that I'm not going to include any of the fight scenes; writing those is not enjoyable at all and you already know what happens I'm assuming. Anyway, here is chapter 6! Hooray!**

"The team to locate and contain Itachi Uchiha has been assembled." Lady Tsunade said looking over her exceptional group of shinobi. "I'm counting on all of you to succeed in this mission. Now get going and good luck!"

"Okay everyone," Kakashi began as the group took off into the woods, "if we want to get Sasuke back, we need to find Itachi. Does any one have questions about our plan?"

"I do, sensei," Sakura commented, "we have no idea were he is. It's not like they have a permanent residence; he could be any where."

"That's a good point, Sakura, but we have my hounds to help us out." The masked man summoned a cloud of smoke that cleared into a mass of dogs. "They will be able to pick up his trail. Once someone finds either Itachi or Sasuke, we must follow the strategy. Understand?"

"Yes sir!" The large search party nodded.

"Now we need to split up; this could prove to be challenging, but we mustn't lose sight of our goal. Scatter!" The eldest chanted and ninja flew in different directions.

"Well Kisame," the eldest Uchiha spoke, "it seems that the time for my battle with my brother has finally come."

Kisame snickered, "Don't show him any mercy, do the same to him as you did to all the other Uchiha members."

The younger partnered heaved a sigh. He could not tell Kisame that his plan was his own death, so he instead asked a favor. "We are going to the Uchiha Hideout. I want you to keep all of the people except Sasuke away while I fight him."

"Don't think you could handle them?" Kisame mocked.

"My only business is with my brother."

"Don't worry about his little friends; I'll keep them busy." Kisame assured his partner of nearly eight years.

"Let's go over there now; I had my clone meet with him so he is on his way to the hideout now." As the two Akatsuki partners walked, Itachi thought over his fate. It was finally near the end for him, and he hoped that his little brother was able to grow strong from his past. He wished that his efforts did not fail.

"It's about time your little group showed up." A familiar voice spoke as hebi approached the Uchiha's lair.

"I don't want to fight you; I'm only here for Itachi, but I'll force my way past you if I must." Sasuke warned the blue man.

Kisame laughed a bit, "I'm only here to keep the rest of your team out. Itachi is waiting for you, but he doesn't want to deal with them."

"Sasuke, this is a bad idea," Karin said, "we should take down this guy and go face your brother together."

"No. It was never my intention to have any of you aid me in this battle. It's something I have to do alone."

"You sound just like Itachi," Kisame smirked, "anyway, he's waiting."

Sasuke nodded and walked off in the direction of his brother. It seemed that destiny had finally brought him to his goal; the only obstacle now was accomplishing it.

**I** **want to add that the fight will still happen, but I'm just not going to write it. Sorry if that wasn't clear! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the long wait! Chapter seven is finally here, though!**

"So you've finally come to face me." The eldest Uchiha states upon seeing Sasuke arrive in the area.

"I have, and now my dream will become a reality." Sasuke replied. With this statement, the battle between brothers began.

In an area not too far from the battle ground, the group of Leaf shinobi dashed in the direction they believed Sasuke to be in.

"Can you sense his trail, Kiba?" Kakashi asked the teen with a keen sense of smell.

"Yeah, it looks like Naruto's clone came in contact with the real Sasuke. He's not that far from where we are now."

"Let's hurry then!" Naruto exclaimed. There was no way he was going to let his former friend escape again. With that established, the blond teen felt assured that Sasuke was going to be brought home.

Suddenly, a masked man appeared before the group. Everyone halted as they were unsure what to expect from this man; however, it was apparent by his attire that he was one of the Akatsuki.

"Well now," the man began; his voice took all of them off guard, "I never would have guessed I'd run into a team of shinobi out here." His statement was a lie since his plan was to keep them from reaching the teen he was after: Sasuke.

"We don't have time to stall; we need to keep moving." Kakashi informed his subordinates. The group tried to advance, but the awkward male stopped them.

"What's this? You don't want to fight me? Am I not menacing enough for you?" The covered face joked.

"If you don't get out of our way, we're going to attack you!" Naruto screamed; this guy was just wasting time.

"Oh, dear! What have I gotten into?"

At that point, it was apparent that Tobi would not let them pass without resistance. With a strategy in mind, Kiba and Naruto, as well as Akamaru, performed their combination attack, but the technique did nothing.

After several more relentless strikes, the teens paused to allow the team leader to speak.

"How is he doing that?" Kakashi wondered aloud.

"I know that I hit him. There's no doubt that I made contact with his body, but my rasengan didn't do anything." Naruto spoke between pants.

"Is it some sort of clone technique?" Sakura questioned.

"No... All of his chakra is concentrated in the man we are seeing. Somehow, the attacks seem to be passing though him."

"This is similar to my abilities; it is like my kamui, but he's doing this to himself." Kakashi mused.

"We don't have time for this! We need to move on or we might not get back Sasuke!" Naruto hollered.

"We don't know any offensive attacks he has; don't charge in there blindly. It would be a waste since he has evaded all of your attempts." Yamato cautioned the younger member.

The captain's warning had no effect on the stubborn teen; he prepared to strike again, but a protrusion rising from the tree limbs stopped him. All of the shinobi wondered what the plant growing rapidly beside the masked man was. It opened to reveal a strange man with a black and white face.

"The battle is over. Itachi is dead, and Sasuke is down right now, too." The strange creature stated. Everyone was shocked at this statement.

"Well then," Tobi's voice changed from one of a child's to that of a man, "I hate to cut our games short, but I must be going now." The man began to vanish into thin air when the someone finally spoke.

"We need to get over there now! If Sasuke's down, we can go get him!" Naruto exclaimed. All the others agreed and took off towards the direction of the battle field thanks to Hinata's byakugan.


	8. Chapter 8

**Here is the next chapter! Yay! Sorry I've been updating so slowly; I've been so tired with all of my finals and work, but it's all over now Which means faster updates! Woohoo!**

Tobi and Zetsu arrived at the scene rather quickly thanks to the masked man's jutsu.

"I would like you to inform me of the details of the battle later; for now, we need to get both of them out of here." Tobi instructed. His plans of obtaining both brothers was altered when he heard the voices of the leaf ninja.

He grabbed Sasuke, the more important target at the time, and resolved to retrieve Itachi's body later. He knew that a battle over the boy would occur if the shinobi caught him, and he did not want to get into such a thing at the current time.

Within a minute, Kakashi's group arrived. "Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked Hinata as he looked around frantically.

The young Hyuuga scanned the area. "I don't sense him. It seems that we are the only ones in the area."

Naruto shook with rage and sorrow at the truth. How could Sasuke get away again?

"We need to pick up on any trace of him. He could still be nearby." Kakashi instructed.

"Wait... I sense a weak source of chakra extremely close to us..." Hinata said. She looked in the direction of the faint source. "It's over this way."

The group followed her to an area several hundred meters away. Behind a large pile of rubble, a motionless body rested.

"This is Itachi Uchiha!" Kakashi exclaimed. He was surprised at the fact that Sasuke had actually taken him down. "Hinata, are you sure that this is the chakra you saw?"

"Yes. He is still alive," She revealed, "but just barely."

Everyone was shocked to hear those words. From the previous information they had acquired, Itachi was dead; could he really he alive?

"Sakura, heal him so he can talk; if he is truly still alive, that is." Kakashi ordered. "He could provide us with valuable information; we have been after him for years."

Sakura nodded and hesitantly proceeded to the nearly dead man. She lowered her hands and placed them on his body. Proof that he was alive came when he choked up blood after several minutes of medical care. The sudden action made Sakura jump back.

His lifeless eyes gained enough light to make out his surroundings. "What's going on?" Itachi questioned in a raspy voice.

Kakashi decided that he should answer before Naruto since the blond was sure to start shouting. "So you are alive; you need to tell us what happened."

Itachi's eyes widened when he heard the words coming from the jonin. "What? I'm still alive? How could this have happened?" He wondered frantically.

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked. "Shouldn't you be more excited that you aren't dead? Or are you scared that you've finally been caught?"

Itachi still laid on the ground. He had not sustained much damage from Sasuke; his illness was the real reason he had collapsed. He slowly rose to a sitting position, which made the group around him take a defensive formation.

"How can you manage to move?" Yamato inquired.

"Where is Sasuke?" Itachi ignored the man's question.

"That doesn't matter. Tell us what happened." Kakashi demanded.

"You're the one who doesn't know what matters; I need to know where my brother is; do you have him?"

"Why should we tell you anything? You only want to kill him!" Naruto yelled.

"You don't get it... If I'm alive that means..." Itachi trailed off. He was sure that his life had come to an end; it was inevitable, and he was positive that today would be his last.

"What are you talking-" Kakashi began before he was interrupted.

"I'm begging you to tell me what happened to Sasuke."

Everyone in the group, with the exception of Sai due to his lack of emotions, stared at the older Uchiha in confusion. "Why do you care?" Sakura asked for all of her comrades.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you... Is Sasuke dead?"

"So you do only want to make sure he's dead?" Naruto growled.

Itachi was about to reply, but a vicious cough tore up his throat. Blood spurted from his mouth and forced him to fall to the ground once again. He desperately tried to push away the lightheaded feeling that tried to claim him but failed and passed out for the second time.

"We shouldn't waste time here; Sasuke's clearly not in the area anymore, so we should take Itachi and return to the village. His weakened state should be easy to contain, and he has information on the Akatsuki as well as Sasuke." Kakashi explained. No one objected to Kakashi's plans. The group took the limp body of the oldest (second oldest counting Tobi) Uchiha and darted back to the village to begin the next stage of the new mission.

**I won't spoil who Tobi is if you only watch the anime, so if you don't read the manga, you don't need to worry about anything being revealed that you don't already know about. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here is chapter 9! Yay! I hope you enjoy; please review since I am finally getting into the original parts. :)**

"So you did capture Itachi, but Sasuke got away?" Tsunade asked.

Kakashi sighed. "That's right, but the mission wasn't a total failure since we did obtain a member of that organization."

"I suppose that's true. I want everyone to stay in the village for a few days until we decide our next move."

"Understood." Yamato replied. Shizune then entered the office.

"We have examined Itachi; the results are actually quite strange." She informed the hokage and jonin surrounding her.

"What did you find out?" Tsunade asked impatiently.

"It seems that aside from a minor burn on his arm and cut on his thigh, Itachi sustained no other physical damage from the battle."

"That is impossible!" Kakashi stammered. "He was barely able to move when we found him; he was coughing up blood, as well."

"I know it seems impossible, but his condition is not the result of Sasuke's attacks. Instead, we found that he is suffering from some sort of illness and nearly died from fatigue."

The shinobi in the room where taken aback by the truth. His condition was due to an illness rather than his conflict with Sasuke...

-elsewhere in the village-

Itachi opened his eyes to reveal a white ceiling held up by the same colored walls. The area was overall rather bland. It was moments later before he remembered the previous events of being found by the leaf shinobi.

He tried to force himself to sit up, but he could not move; it was not from his deteriorated condition but rather because he was bound to the furniture he was lying on.

The young shinobi thrashed around to try to break free, but he could not loosen the restraints on him. He knew that since Sasuke was not with the people of the leaf, he must have been taken by Tobi, and since Itachi had not died, the Amaterasu Itachi intended to implant in his brother would not activate. This made it simple for the masked man to recruit Sasuke for evil purposes.

Though Itachi was not entirely sure how much Tobi knew, he was positive that he was informed on at least the basic truth about him. The thought of his little brother learning the reality was truly terrifying since Itachi had put everything into ensuring that would not happen.

The man stopped moving when he heard the door slide open. He looked with blurry vision at the figure who entered. "I wanted to talk to you..." The person said.

"I thought you might seek answers from me..." Itachi sighed.

"Why did you make me swallow that crow earlier today?" Naruto inquired.

"That was an extra precaution." Itachi explained without going into detail.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't have time to explain everything to you at the moment."

"It looks to me like you're going to be here for quite a while, so you have plenty of time." The blond answered while motioning to Itachi's tethered down body.

Itachi chose to ignore his statement. "I need you to tell me where Sasuke is. Do you know what happened to him?"

Naruto was startled by the Uchiha's concerned tone. "Why would I tell you?"

"I need to know what has happened to my brother."

"You only want to know so you can actually kill him this time, and you probably won't be able to. He beat you pretty bad earlier today. I don't think-"

"That's not why I need to know. I want you to tell me what you know about his location."

Naruto was hesitant to answer, but considering that Itachi could not move, he decided that it wouldn't cause anything bad if he told him what he knew. "Well, I'm not sure where he is at the moment. We are pretty certain that the guy with an orange mask took him, though. What does it matter to you, though?"

"I thought that would be the case... I need you to untie me now." Itachi responded bluntly.

"What?" Naruto shouted. "Why the hell would I do that? I know I'm not the smartest guy, but you can't honestly think I'm that stupid!"

"I need you to help me; I'll tell you anything you want to know after you get me out of this." Itachi bargained.

"That's what someone who didn't plan on actually telling me anything would say. If I let you go, you'll just run away."

Itachi could not dispute that; his offer did seem sketchy, but he had no time to waste. He had to keep Sasuke from learning anything about him, but since Itachi was alive, his plans would have to be altered. "I'm going to tell you something that only very few people are aware of; I have vowed to never tell any one, but for the sake of the village and my brother, I'm going to break that."

Naruto's face illuminated with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"When I was still in the village, the Uchiha clan was planning to overthrown the hokage. The conflict between the two has gone back generations, and the one prior to mine decided to act. In order to prevent such a conflict, I was ordered to eliminate the Uchiha clan; this included Sasuke." Itachi revealed. "However, I couldn't force myself to hurt him, so I instead made him hate me and want to kill me. I threatened the village elders before leaving to spy on the Akatsuki. After that, I did my part in keeping their plans from progressing too fast. Today was the day that Sasuke was supposed to kill me; I managed to take any thing left of Orochimaru from him and finally let him achieve his goal.

"My plans failed, however. I should have died today, but I'm still alive, and now Tobi has Sasuke. He's going to tell him everything he knows about me in order to get Sasuke to join the Akatsuki. I'm sure of that. My brother has been driven by revenge his whole life; if he finds out what I'm telling you, he will most likely attack the village. That's why I put the crow in you; I implanted sharingan that would cast genjutsu on Sasuke and stop him, but since I'm still living, I may be able to change the course of his actions." He fixated his gaze on Naruto. "That's why you need to let me go."

Naruto stared at Itachi. He did not know what to think. "You except me to believe that? From everything I have heard, you are just a criminal."

"I know it sounds absurd, but I'm not lying. Do you really think I would have come given you that power if I didn't care? If I really wanted to, I could have killed Sasuke and taken you to have the nine tails extracted."

This shocked Naruto. It seemed true; Naruto was well aware that Itachi was stronger than Kakashi and matched Jiraiya. "That's true... But I don't have anything to back your story up with. You're still just a criminal."

"It's your decision; I can't do anything like this. Just know that Sasuke is sure to attack, especially if you keep me here."

Naruto thought over the words. "I'll talk to Kakashi sensei and granny Tsunade."

"You can't do that!" Itachi commanded. "I told you because I know that you above everyone else will go to great lengths for my brother. If others find out, they won't believe me. Telling anyone will only lead to more trouble. You have to decide whether freeing me is the best way to save Sasuke."


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm hoping you like this chapter! Please review if you want to! Thank you very much for reading!**

****It was finally getting dark outside; Naruto had left the locked up Uchiha nearly an hour ago after informing him that he needed some time to think. Could he really believe what Itachi had told him? Even though he did not know the missing-nin well, the thought of Sasuke's brother being a good guy was hard to buy. As he roamed the dark streets, he saw a familiar figure.

"Hello, Naruto." Sai greeted his comrade.

"Hey..." He mumbled back. Sai picked up on the melancholy tone.

"Are you doing all right?" Sai asked. He had preciously read a book about how to act concerned when a friend is in need.

"It's nothing..." Naruto uttered.

Sai analyzed his response. He could not determine whether Naruto was only saying that or if it was really true. He was new to emotions, after all. "You can tell me if something is concerning you. That's what friends are for."

"Thanks, but I don't really know if I should tell anyone."

"I understand." Sai replied. "We'll if you don't have anything more to say, I suppose I will go home now."

Naruto bid him farewell and continued to walk. He then thought of Sakura; she wanted Sasuke back just as much as he did, so maybe she could offer some input on the situation.

"You're thinking of releasing him?" Sakura screamed when Naruto began to explain the day's events.

"Don't hit me!" He shouted and covered his head. "Hear me out; Itachi told me what he claimed to be the truth, then he told me Sasuke is going to attack us, and now he's begging me to let him go."

"Naruto, that guy is the while reason Sasuke left. He killed his whole family; you can't believe him."

"But he didn't kill Sasuke. He even gave me some of his power to prevent Sasuke from attacking. He also didn't let the Akatsuki capture me a few years ago."

"Look, even if that all makes sense, we have no way to back that up. You can't do this."

Naruto thought over it all in his head. Sakura was right, but if he had the chance to rescue Sasuke, he needed to take it. "I guess I shouldn't..."

"No, you shouldn't, and you can't. I want Sasuke back, too, but letting a criminal escape is a horrible idea." Sakura could read what Naruto was thinking by his expression. "If he goes missing, I'm going to tell Lady Tsunade that you are responsible."

Naruto was partially surprised from Sakura's resolve. He thought that she would be on his side, but she denied his thoughts. Either way, Naruto came to the conclusion that Itachi's words must have been true. It explained everything, and it could bring his closest friend back.

When the darkest hour of the night arrived, Naruto silently navigating through the streets to the location of the detained Uchiha. He crept inside the building and began to slink through the halls. Before he reached the room containing Itachi, he saw a pair of eyes staring at him.

"I thought you were going to come here." Sakura said.

"Sakura... I'm sorry, but if doing this will bring Sasuke back, I have to try."

"I've thought about what you said earlier, and I think you might be right. Having a medical ninja to come with the two of you might be a good idea, wouldn't you agree?" She smiled.

Naruto was elated to hear Sakura's change of heart. "Let's bust him out of here then!"

"Right! You go untie him, and I'll keep look out." Sakura said. Naruto agreed and entered the room. Itachi was pleased to see Naruto approaching him with the intention of freeing him; however, both of their emotions changed to negative ones when the door was slid shut. Naruto ran back to the door and pried at it, but I would not open.

"Sakura? What's going on?" He yelped.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I can't allow you to do this..."


	11. Chapter 11

**I hope you are enjoying the story thus far. Preview tell me what you think. I'm trying to decide how it should go, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know!**

"Sakura! What are you doing?" Naruto exclaimed as he continued to pry on the door.

"Getting Sasuke back is the most important thing to me, too, but freeing Itachi won't help us reach that goal. If you want to go through with it, I have no choice but to lock you in there with him." She responded through the barrier.

The blond was baffled at her reply. He was well aware that his actions seemed rash, but Sakura's response was cruel.

"I'm going to tell Lady Hokage about this... I'm sorry, Naruto." The two that were in the room could hear footsteps heading off down the hall. Naruto walked over to Itachi and broke the bindings that held him down.

"Looks like we're going to have to break out of here, then." He said solemnly.

"It seems like you didn't listen to me earlier. I warned you that telling any one of my back story would prove to create problems." Itachi states as he got up. "Either way, I believe you are right. The only question is how to get out."

"That's easy; I'll use my rasengan to break through the wall."

"Do that and everyone will hear. It would cause many shinobi to come running, especially since your friend is informing the hokage as we speak."

"We'll it's all we've got." Naruto shouted desperately.

"I know that, but I'm still considerably weak right now. I don't know that we could win in a fight at the present time."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I'm not entirely sure at the moment..." Itachi admitted. "However, we need to figure out something fast. I can assure you that the Akatsuki is already planning their next move."

Naruto groaned. This situation could not get worse. "Well, we better start to come up with a solution."

The two conversed for a short period of time before reaching a decision. "I guess this is our best shot, then." Itachi said as Naruto nodded his head in agreement.

Tsunade stared wide eyed at Sakura as she spoke.

"Naruto was trying to free Itachi?" The hokage asked for clarification. Surely not even Naruto could be that much of a fool.

"He thinks that doing that will bring Sasuke back. He tried to explain it to me, but it really doesn't make any sense."

"Where is he now?"

"I locked him in the same chamber as Itachi. It was the only way I could think of to stop him."

"I want you to get Kakashi right away. Tell him to get over there and get to the bottom of this. If Naruto stays in there with Itachi, he may be incapacitated and taken back to the Akatsuki base. You need to hurry!"

"Yes ma'am!" Sakura agreed. She dashed down the streets to her sensei's dwelling. She approached the door and banged her fist against it. It took several minutes before the man emerged.

"Sakura?" Kakashi wondered. "It's not even five yet; what's going on?"

"Lady Tsunade needs you to get to Itachi's holding cell right away. Naruto is locked in there with him, and we believe they are going to escape."

"What? Why is-"

"I'll explain on the way; we don't have much time to spare."

The teacher and student raced towards the compound. When it came into sight, a large blast on the western wall could be seen; that side of the building was where Naruto was located. "What's going on over there?" Sakura asked frantically.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I'll bet it's not good." The pair picked up the pace and rushed to the building. They could see members of the anbu heading towards the area as well.

When Sakura and Kakashi finally arrived at the building, they saw exactly what was happening. At least ten clones of both Naruto and Itachi were scattering in different directions.

"Sakura, we need to find the real ones before they get away from the village! If they manage to escape, it could he the end of Naruto!" Kakashi shouted and began to chase after a pair of clones. The anbu members also attacked, and when the replications were all demolished, the shinobi realized the disappointing truth: the real Itachi and Naruto were gone."


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi! Sorry this took a few days to get up; I just finished my last final for school today! Hope you enjoy!**

"Seems as though they took out all of the clones; we better pick up our pace." Itachi noted.

"Do you even know where we are going?" Naruto asked. "I mean, how can you even be sure that Sasuke is with this masked guy?"

The two shinobi moved faster. "I can't be absolutely certain, but from what I have gathered, Sasuke was gone before you reached the area. I went down before he did, but I know he was in bad shape and was aware that he passed out. Someone had to have gotten him, and Tobi is the only one who would have."

"Whatever you say; at least that's something. But they could have gone anywhere!"

"There are several Akatsuki hideouts throughout the nations; chances are that they are in one of those."

"Then you're saying we have to check every single one of them, and there are multiple in multiple nations? That will take forever! By the time we get there, they will already be gone!"

"I have a feeling that they are most likely at a particular area - there is a large skeleton there, so we'll be able to spot it quickly, even with my deteriorating vision."

The two had been running all night, and the sun was finally peering over the horizon line. "Do you see that big hole in the ground?" Itachi asked Naruto as he continued toward the crater.

"Yeah," Naruto panted, "what about it?"

"That's where I'm guessing Sasuke is."

Naruto glanced at the elder Uchiha. "You might not be able to see very well, but you should at least know a crater from a skeleton..."

"The skeleton is down in the hole." Itachi sighed. Before they reached the large opening in the earth, Itachi signaled for Naruto to stop.

Naruto looked to Itachi with confusion written on his face.

"We can't just barge in there. The Akatsuki is still after you, and they think I'm dead. We need to be cautious."

The two men took several steps towards the area. They peeked down to the bottom and saw a figure emerge from a cavern located below.

"It's Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed. He wanted to dart to his friend, but Itachi grabbed him and pulled him back into the woods surrounding them.

"What are you doing?" Itachi whispered. "You have to be quiet; Tobi is also in there, and I'm still not in great shape after my battle yesterday."

Before Naruto could answer, another voice spoke. "I know you're over there; you might as well come out."

Both of the shinobi hiding in the sense foliage recognized the voice: Sasuke.

"If you don't come out and face me, I'm going to kill you before you get the chance to run." The youngest Uchiha hissed. Though Itachi and Naruto both planned on finding Sasuke, this was not the way they wanted to greet him. After all, Itachi was not certain that Tobi related the truth to his younger brother.

Before either Naruto or Itachi reached a decision on what to do next, Sasuke pounced towards them. The young Uchiha was about to strike the elder of the pair, but forced his assault to stop when he caught sight of the face before him.

"Brother...?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Here is chapter 13! Yay! I also wanted to mention that the Oro/Sasu at the beginning hasn't been forgotten; the topic will reemerge in the coming chapters. Enjoy and please review if you would like to :)**

"Sasuke..." Itachi mumbled upon seeing his younger brother's face.

"How are you here? I killed you! You're already dead!" Sasuke shouted in panic. He could not believe what he was witnessing.

Itachi gazed at his brother with blurry vision. "The team searching for you came across me; they took me to the village for interrogation and-"

"Is it true?" Sasuke cut off Itachi. "Was Madara telling the truth about your actions?"

"I'm not sure what he said exactly, but it is true that I was ordered to murder the members of our clan." Itachi admitted. It was difficult for him to speak about the past since he had never planned on revealing it to anyone, especially not young Sasuke.

Naruto could see the tension between the two brothers and did not want to interfere; he remembered how Sasuke had gotten angry the last time Naruto had tried to speak with him and decided to remain silent.

"... So you're saying that you didn't want to do it?" Sasuke asked.

"It was either protect you or let you die with the rest of our family; you alone were the most important thing to me, so I had to choose that..."

Sasuke didn't know how to respond. He never imagined that he would have to face his brother again, and now that his image of Itachi had changed, Sasuke was not sure what to do.

"What will you do now?" Itachi reluctantly inquired.

"I'm going to take revenge on the village for making you suffer."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed after his long period of remaining silent. Sasuke was taken off guard by his former teammate; he was so fixated on his brother that he completely overlooked Naruto's presence.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke questioned.

"I've been here," Naruto replied after noticing Sasuke's confusion, "I'm the one who freed Itachi from the prison."

Sasuke was so confused; he was aware of the truth behind Itachi, but was baffled as to why someone as clueless as Naruto would set a criminal free. After all, Naruto was extremely loyal to his home.

"I understand why you would want to get revenge, but my suffering is much less now that you accept me once again." Itachi said. "There is no need to attack the Leaf; it was my decision to eliminate the Uchiha."

"That's true, Sasuke. You can't avenge your brother since he is still alive and still wants to protect the village." Naruto commented from the side.

Sasuke turned his eyes back to Itachi. "How can you still want to protect the village after everything they had you do?"

"As I said before, I wasn't forced into doing anything. I chose that path in order to keep what I treasured safe. I don't regret that choice, and I don't want you to, either."

The younger Uchiha was unsure how to react. To protect the village, Itachi killed his family. By doing this, Sasuke was driven to seek revenge; it was this action that made him leave behind his friends and go to Orochimaru. After the night that Itachi left, all Sasuke knew was pain.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say..." He said at last.

"Sasuke, think about this! You took revenge on your brother, and then found out that he wasn't your enemy at all. Do you want to regret another decision? All you will get out of revenge is remorse; you should already know that." The blond explained. Sasuke analyzed this statement. It made sense; his previous actions had him in a state of grief.

"Let's say I do let this go; then what? I can't go back to the village. They'll lock you up," he shifted his focus back to Naruto, "and who knows what will happen to you for letting Itachi out."

"We can deal with that when it comes, but right now, you have to reach a decision." Itachi informed him.

Sasuke swallowed hard; resolving his conflicting feelings would be difficult. In a matter of mere hours, his life had been changed. Such an event needed time to be thought out, but he was limited since the Leaf surely sent shinobi out after Itachi and Naruto.


	14. Chapter 14

**Since I haven't been very good with updates lately, I have been working hard to present the next chapters! Please write suggestions in the reviews to help me progress the story! :)**

"I don't want to be left behind by you again, Itachi, so I guess I'm going wherever you go..." Sasuke finally said, though his words were hesitant to come out.

"That's great news!" Naruto shouted. "We better head back to the village now; when we were leaving, a bunch of ninja were trying to catch us."

"That's true; though I'm not entirely sure what to do once we get back." Itachi sighed. Considering all things, no one knew about his past, and he had a feeling no one would believe it.

Naruto lost the happy expression on his face. "Like we agreed on before, we can figure that out when it comes."

"I don't think Madara will be very pleased once he realizes I'm gone..." Sasuke mumbled. It was bothersome that there was yet another obstacle preventing the trio from departing the location.

"His goal is to collect the tailed beasts; I doubt that he will come after you. You are a valuable asset to him, but with your allegiance elsewhere, you would be useless for his cause." Sasuke could agree with his older brother's point.

"So... Is that everything we have to figure out for now?" An impatient Naruto asked his fellow villagers.

The brothers agreed in unison. The team was finally able to leave the area and return to the village, but that came with its own troubles...

Lady Tsunade impatiently tapped her fingers on the desk located in her office. It had been hours since Itachi and Naruto had fled, and there was still no word from those in their pursuit.

At long last, relief finally came. "Kakashi! Have you received word from the tracking team?"

The jonin casually responded. "I did; just about an hour ago, around seven AM, the team reported to having seen Naruto and Itachi coming this way."

"Did they capture them?" She asked.

"No. They were told to only monitor their movements. You have to remember that this isn't just an ordinary ninja we are dealing with here; Itachi Uchiha was the pride of the Uchiha clan. However-"

"So what did you find out? All you're telling me is information I already have!"

"Right, I apologize. The team did send word that Sasuke is traveling with them. It seems they are all coming back to the village."

"What does that mean?" Tsunade wondered. "Two rogue Uchihas and Naruto..."

"I'm not entirely sure what is going on, either." Kakashi agreed. The whole situation was very strange; Naruto hated Itachi just as much as the rest of the village, especially since he was the main reason behind Sasuke's defection.

As the two high ranking shinobi continued to discuss possible reasons behind Naruto's action, someone burst into the room.

Speak of the devil, and he will appear: the intruder was none other than Naruto Uzumaki accompanied by the remaining Uchihas.

At this sight, Tsunade rose from her chair. "What exactly were you thinking, Naruto? And what is this all about?" She asked motioning to the other two.

Kakashi analyzed the situation in disbelief. Not only was Sasuke back, but he came back with his brother; the man he despised.

"About that..." Naruto started, "it's a long story..." He didn't know how to explain; having Sasuke in the village was something no one would have pictured for a while, at least, and having Itachi with him was even more of a shocker.

"First off, I want you-" Tsunade said to Kakashi- "to take Itachi back to the prison. And Naruto, we have plenty of time."

"I knew this would happen!" Sasuke hollered. "This is why I didn't want to come!" His reaction was to the hokage's orders to take Itachi into custody.

Kakashi was baffled by his reaction. "Why is this upsetting you so much, Sasuke?" Something wasn't adding up. Not only did Naruto release the missing nin, but now Sasuke was angered by his detainment?

"I thought that this might actually work out somehow, but now I see that was just a childish vision. The people of this village are ignorant." Sasuke growled.

"Take him to the holding area as well, Kakashi. We have no way of knowing that Sasuke is going to run off again."

Itachi wasn't overly pleased with the idea of his little brother being locked up, but thought that might be the best course of action considering Sasuke didn't actually want to be in the village. He glanced over at his brother, who happened to be scowling at Kakashi for approaching him.

"This is ridiculous!" Sasuke shouted. "You're only locking us up because you don't trust the Uchiha clan!"

Itachi wasn't planning on speaking since he was considered an s-rank criminal, but he felt compelled to say something when Sasuke resisted. "Sasuke, it's just a precaution. There's no need for you to get so riled up."

Kakashi and Tsnuade were surprised by his statement. Was Itachi actually defending the hokage's orders to detain him? Nothing in this room made any sense at all.

"But-" Sasuke attempted to refute his big brother's claim, but was cut off.

"Look, Sasuke, we all agreed that we would figure this out as it came, so for now, just go with it. I'll talk to Ganny Tsunade; you need to do what she wants. You are technically a criminal, too." Naruto interrupted. He was well aware that their desired results for the situation were not likely, so he knew that the best thing was to be obedient.

Sasuke clenched his jaw and looked at the ground. "...fine." He stammered before Kakashi lead him and his brother away.

"Now, why don't you tell me what the hell you were doing last night?" The hokage screamed.

Naruto recoiled a bit. "I know it seems crazy, but I had a good reason for it!"

"If this has to do with what Sakura told me about Itachi's backstory, I might as well throw you behind bars, too."

"But that story is true! You saw the way Sasuke acted! If it was a lie, do you think he would have just stood around next to his brother? He would be trying to kill him right now if that was made up." Naruto justified his explanation with evidence.

"Even if that behaviors was odd, we have no way to be sure. Letting an s-tank criminal as dangerous as Itachi Uchiha escape was a horrible plan! What if he had been lying? He could have killed you and taken you to the Akatsuki base!"

"Well, that's another thing in his favor... He didn't take me there, and we both know that he could have! If he was against us, he wouldn't have come back here."

"I'll have to think all of this over, but I do know that what you did was beyond stupid! You're too reckless!"

"I thought about this for hours; it wasn't just a split-second decision. Besides, it didn't end up the way you thought it would. I brought Sasuke back, didn't I?" Naruto was getting angry. Though he couldn't say his actions were questionable, the outcome was a good one, so he was annoyed that Lady Tsunade was yelling at him.

Before the next round of angry words could be exchanged, Sakura entered the office. She stepped inside and saw the two of them staring each other down.

"I'm sorry; am I interrupting something?" She asked sheepishly.

"No; we're done here. Sakura, I'd like you to escort Naruto out. I need time to think over some things." The fifth informed her.

"Yes ma'am." She said. She and Naruto walked out of the large building together. She looked over at her teammate.

"Before you say anything, I already know that what I did was reckless, so you don't need to scold me, too." He sighed.

"Actually... I wanted to thank you." Sakura admitted.

Naruto looked at her with a confused expression. "Thank me? But what I did was stupid, even though I hate to admit it."

"I know it was, but you kept your promise... You brought him back." She smiled at her comrade. He finally put it together as he remembered her plea for Sasuke all those years ago.

He replaced his confusion with his usual goofy smile. "I told you; I never go back on my word! Not ever!"

No one could deny that statement.


	15. Chapter 15

The Uchiha brothers sat in two cells. Sasuke was in the one located on the left wall and Itachi was directly across on the right wall.

"I can't believe this..." Sasuke muttered. The Leaf Village had been trying to get him back for years and when they finally do, they decided to throw him in prison.

"It's not all that bad. Naruto may be clueless when it comes to some things, but most people in the village have grown to respect him. He'll figure this out." Itachi reassured him.

"How would you know? He's clueless about almost everything... He's probably made the situation worse." Sasuke refuted even though he had faith in his best friend.

They sat silently for a few moments before speaking again. It was a bit strange that Sasuke was not angry at him. It was a little awkward for the two of them to act like siblings at first, but their bond made that initial separation disappear quickly.

"I'm glad to see you back in the village, even if you are locked up." Itachi said a bit sarcastically.

"I guess I'm glad to see you here, too. It is our home, after all." Sasuke admitted.

Itachi smiled at his brother's response. "Even if you might not be that happy to be here, I can say for sure that it is better than you being with Orochimaru. That man is disgusting." Itachi was not aware of everything that went on between his younger brother and the sannin, but he knew that Orochimaru was a disgraceful creature.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide when he heard the snake's name. He had tried hard over the previous weeks to suppress any memory of the years of abuse with him, but the mention of the man brought the pain back. "Yeah... He is disgusting..." Sasuke mumbled.

Itachi noticed the change in Sasuke's attitude. "What's wrong?"

Sasuke didn't answer; he was too engulfed in the past to notice Itachi's question. The elder was disturbed by his younger brother's sudden withdrawal. "Sasuke...?"

Sasuke looked up from the floor and across the narrow hall to his brother. He still refrained from speaking.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Itachi asked with clear concern in his voice.

Compelled to act as though he was fine, Sasuke finally spoke. "I was just thinking; I'm fine."

"I can tell that you're lying. I know we haven't spoken like this in years, but I'm still your older brother, and I can still see through your lies."

"It really doesn't matter anymore." Sasuke said, though he was well aware that Itachi did not believe him since Sasuke was clearly dispirited.

"You can tell me what's bothering you," Itachi said, "I want you to know that I'm here for you."

Sasuke's face shifted to a more somber expression. "It's nothing."

Though Itachi could not see Sasuke's expression very well, he could hear the sadness in his voice. It made his heart feel heavy when his little brother was hurting. The more he thought over what was happening, he realized that Sasuke grew dismal when Orochimaru came up in conversation.

"This has something to do with Orochimaru, doesn't it?"

"Yeah... But I'd rather not say any more." Sasuke replied. Itachi did not want to pressure Sasuke for more information, but wanted to know why his precious brother was so upset.

"I can see that this is bothering you quite a bit, and I don't want to make you feel worse, but I really want to know what Orochimaru did to make you feel like this."

Sasuke was beginning to get mad at Itachi. He shifted uncomfortably against the wall before he spoke again. "I said that I don't want to talk."

"Sasuke, please tell me."

"He's dead now, so it doesn't matter. It's not going to be a problem any more. It's of no concern to you."

"I'm your brother, and I'm supposed to take care of you; therefore, this is my concern."

"Would you just leave it alone?" Sasuke barked.

"It's obvious that it was something that has deeply scarred you; if it didn't, you wouldn't be getting so upset."

"You're right; it was torture to live there! He forced himself on me for hours ever single day for nearly three years!" Sasuke shouted. "Are you happy now?"

Itachi was speechless. He knew that Orochimaru must have done awful things to his brother, but he never imagined an act that terrible. "Do you mean he-"

Sasuke interrupted Itachi before he could say the word that the poor Uchiha was forced to endure. "Yes... That's what I mean..."


	16. Chapter 16

**I want to thank everyone for their reviews! I really appreciate them: keep it up :D**

Itachi stared at his little brother in disbelief. Could the serpentine sannin really have sexually assaulted Sasuke? Itachi knew full well that Orochimaru was twisted, but he never would have imagined such an awful action from him.

It made Itachi extremely enraged that anyone, especially a middle aged male, would violate his younger brother. If Itachi had not already sealed Orochimaru away for eternity, he would gladly erase him from the world now.

"Sasuke... I'm so sorry; I should have anticipated him going after you. I should have killed him when I had the chance several years ago... This wouldn't have happened if I did!"

"Words won't make this better, Itachi." Sasuke informed his brother. After all, how could his brother's anger change the past? The simple truth was that it couldn't.

Before Itachi could manage to say another word, Kakashi came back to the area. "Sorry to interrupt your conversation," he began, "but I'm here to get Sasuke."

The one he had named didn't move when Kakashi opened his door. The jonin was slightly surprised that his young pupil would not budge; only hours before he was furious about having to be locked away.

"You're acting strange." Kakashi said. "Come on, Lady Tsunade wants to see you."

After deliberating over whether or not to be difficult, Sasuke decided that speaking with the hokage would be better than continuing his uncomfortable conversation with his brother. Sasuke got up from the floor and looked over at Itachi before following Kakashi out of the building.

Once the two were gone, Itachi was left alone with the idea of his little brother being abused; one that made him beyond angry.

"Lady Tsunade wants to talk with you about Itachi." Kakashi said as he and his student headed towards the hokage's office.

"Why? She doesn't trust me anymore than she trusts him."

"That's not true; she just doesn't want you to cause more trouble by running off again. You should be able to understand that."

Sasuke sighed. "Where exactly do I have to run off to?"

This question was a little baffling to Kakashi. "I don't know, but from what I have gathered, you weren't planning on returning to the village until Itachi and Naruto tracked you down."

"Whatever; I don't have to tell you anything." Sasuke retorted.

"Being your superior, you do technically have to give me the information I request, but either way, I know you've been through a lot in the last few years, so I'm not going to press you for anything." Kakashi said.

Sasuke took a deep breath; he didn't want to think about anything related to Orochimaru, but everyone he spoke with was bringing him up those memories.

It was silence the rest of the way to Lady Tsunade's chamber. Once they arrived, the fifth hokage looked up from her papers.

"Now that I can finally speak with you alone," she said signaling to dismiss Kakashi, "I would like to ask you a few questions. But before that, I want to inform you that I have decided to let you return to your previous life here."

Sasuke wasn't overly joyed at her statement.

"After giving your situation some thought, I came to the conclusion that even though you betrayed the village by leaving, you never took any aggressive actions towards us. In fact, you eliminated Orochimaru, one of our biggest threats. Therefore, I am granting you permission to stay here, but if you ever decide to leave for selfish reasons again, I will take action against you."

"What about Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

"That's one of the things I wanted to discuss with you," Tsunade began, "Naruto seems to think that he is not the criminal we recognize. Your actions say the same thing. Before I reach a verdict on that, I would like to hear what you have to say about him."

"Would my opinion really make a difference to you?" Sasuke asked. Tsunade sighed and shifted in her chair.

"I am requiring you to tell me why you weren't angry at him earlier today. Don't make this difficult." She reiterated.

Sasuke proceeded to tell her all that he knew about his brother. He included every detail Tobi had relayed to him, excluding the history of the Senju and Uchiha clans since Tsunade was aware of the warring clans.

After his spiel was finished, Lady Tsunade put her head in her hands. Though every single part of the story seemed to fit perfectly in place, the reality of the situation was hard to manifest in her mind. She finally pulled her head back up to look at Sasuke, who was emotionlessly gazing in her direction.

"I have been suspicious about Danzo since the moment I arrived back in the village... But to think he would give such a cruel mission is unforgivable." She stammered. "However, I still can't prove this is true, and the villagers would never accept Itachi's return."

Though Sasuke knew her statement about Itachi was true, it made him angry. "The people of this village are clueless; you can't punish my brother for the actions of someone else!"

"I know it's not fair, but as I said, I can't back this up with any evidence. And even if I could, it would only cause problems in the village. Everyone here besides a limited few has known Itachi Uchiha to be a ruthless killer and criminal. What would they say if he was freely roaming our streets again?"

"I'm not just going to stand around if you continue to let this corrupt place take advantage of Itachi again!" Sasuke snarled.

"Then what do you plan on doing?" She interrogated. "If you do anything that puts us in danger, I will disregard everything I previously said and eliminate you."

Sasuke silenced himself; he didn't truly want to return to the life of a rogue shinobi; he simply wanted his older brother to have the life he was banned from.

"In all honesty, I am leaning towards believing that Itachi was ordered to do this; I'm fully aware that he could have obtained the nine tails several times if he wanted to. If he were truly loyal to the Akatsuki, I believe that the village would not be as secure as it is at this moment." Tsunade admitted. "However, I need time to figure out the best solution. You'll have to be patient if you want this to work out."

Sasuke nodded, "is that all you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Yes. You can go now." With that, Sasuke exited the room and headed out towards the town. He figured that he would return to his old apartment since he did not particularly want to be questioned further by Itachi at the moment.

As he maneuvered through the crowded village, he heard a familiar voice call his name.


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks for the reviews! Here is the next chapter! :)**

"Hey! Sasuke, wait up!" The voice called. The Uchiha turned around to see a pink haired ninja running towards him.

"Sakura..." Sasuke said as she approached him.

"I haven't gotten a chance to see you since you got back," she stated cheerfully, "how are you?"

"I've only been back for a few hours... I'm doing alright, but I really want to go home." He noted since he wasn't in the mood to reminisce with his teammate, especially since she last saw him in a pathetic state in with Orochimaru.

"Do you mind if I walk with you?" She asked persistently.

Sasuke sighed. "I guess not." Normally he would have shot her request down, but he did not want to cause her to become upset since that would be more trouble than having her walk home with him.

"Have you decided to stay?" Sakura inquired.

"I think so." He answered, though in reality his decision had not been made. He was waiting for Tsunade to resolve the situation with Itachi before he chose whether to stay or to leave.

"So have you done anything interesting lately?" Sakura asked. As soon as she asked the question, she realized it was a bad one.

Sasuke glanced out of the corner of his eyes at her. "I don't know what you mean by interesting, but I've definitely done a lot recently."

"I'm sorry; that was a stupid question! I was just trying to make conversation..." The girl looked at the ground out of embarrassment. Sasuke chose not to say anything in response; he couldn't deny that it was a ridiculous thing to ask, so he decided to remain silent.

"Well, this is my house." Sasuke said as they stopped walking.

"Okay; it was really great seeing you today. I missed you so much," Sakura admitted, though Sasuke was already aware of that, "do you think that maybe we could do something together later?"

This made it apparent that her infatuation was still alive. "I don't think I'm up for that." He said plainly.

"Oh, okay. That's fine. I guess I'll see you around then?" She was used to his rejection, so didn't get too dispirited from it.

"Sure." He turned away from Sakura and went inside. He examined the room that was once his daily dwelling. It looked the same as it did when he left several years ago.

Sasuke stepped further into his home. He looked at a surface that held an overturned picture frame; the memory of flipping his team photo over was vivid in his mind as he analyzed the back of it. The Uchiha advanced to the picture and reached his hand out towards it, but pulled away before he touched it. If the situation at hand did not go his way, it would be difficult to leave again if he reinforced his bonds with memories of a better time.

Tsunade sat in her office staring at Kakashi who stood before her. "I think that I finally decided what I need to do..."

"Are you sure that you have chosen the best option?" Kakashi asked.

"I believe so," the hokage said sternly, "the best thing for the village is to keep Itachi Uchiha imprisoned."

Kakashi nodded; he only knew as much as Tsunade, so he could not judge her verdict.

"I want you to go and tell Itachi what I have decided." Tsunade ordered.

"Yes ma'am," Kakashi replied, "may I ask you a question before I do?"

"Alright, but make it quick. I'm a very busy person."

"Why did you come to that decision?"

Tsunade was a bit surprised that Kakashi would question her authority, but realized it was not to defy her but merely understand her reasoning.

"Sasuke indicated that he would act aggressively if we keep Itachi detained; however, keeping him under control will be far simpler than the crowds that would protest if Itachi were to be free. Even if Danzo was behind the Uchiha Massacre, relaying this would do nothing positive. As the hokage, I must do what I can to keep peace in the village."

"That is very insightful; I can only hope that this is the best option," Kakashi responded, "I'll go now."

Kakashi quickly made it to the prison to inform the elder Uchiha of the hokage's decision. He figured that if Itachi truly did strive for peace in the Leaf, he would comply. The jonin entered the building and headed towards the hall containing Itachi. When he was about to turn the corner, he heard two voices quietly conversing.

He easily recognized the first as Itachi, and though he never had much contact with the other, he could determine that it was Danzo.

**What could they be talking about...?**


	18. Chapter 18

Kakashi stayed hidden from view as he listened to the two men speak.

"I never would have thought that you would divulge any details of that mission, Itachi," Kakashi heard Danzo say, "to think that you would do such a thing is pitiful."

"You know as well as I do that I wouldn't have spoken unless I had a good cause." Itachi replied sourly.

"Don't forget who has the upper hand in this situation." Danzo threatened. That much was correct; the elder did have authority in the village.

"I only did what needed to be done; the village would be at risk if I kept quiet."

Kakashi knew the basis of the conversation revolved around the massacre that took place nearly eight years ago. However, he was acquiring new information through his eavesdropping; information that proved Itachi's innocence.

"I suppose your talking about Sasuke's affiliation with the Akatsuki?" Danzo said.

"I put an end to that, so there is no need to take any action against my brother."

"I told you that I would keep him from danger, but seeing that you are locked in here and he attempted to betray the village, there is no reason for me to honor that claim."

Itachi, who was near the wall farthest from the other man, rose and stomped to the front of his chamber. The Uchiha got as close to Danzo as he could, though the bars blocked him from physically touching him. He let his chagrin visibly appear on his face.

"If you so much as lay a finger on him, I'll kill you." Itachi threatened with a sinister tone.

Danzo took a few steps back, which caused Kakashi to retreat further into the shadows. "That claim is enough to have you executed," Danzo replied calmly even though Itachi's words did intimidate him, "besides, there are plenty of shinobi who would stop you if you were to attack me."

"If you value your life, you won't get near Sasuke." Itachi stated again. His eyes proved his anger as they swirled into his mangekyou sharingan design.

"You can threaten me all you want, but we both know that there are people in this village itching to kill you. They will not stand by and watch if you attempt to injure me." Danzo said. He finally turned towards the exit and began to stride away.

Kakashi fled the building before Danzo was able to perceive his presence. Though his orders were to inform Itachi of the hokage's decision, he decided that his newly acquired information took priority.

He took off towards the tower where Tsunade resided but was slowed down by one of his students.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto yelled and ran to catch up with his teacher.

The jonin did not stop moving. "I don't have time to train with you, Naruto." He shouted back at his pupil.

"I just want to ask you a question! Will you slow down for a minute?" Naruto begged. Kakashi hesitantly slowed down to wait for Naruto.

After they had both stopped, Naruto spoke again. "Have you talked to Granny lately?"

"Yes; I just did. I'm going back there now; is that all you wanted?" He asked impatiently.

"Has she figured out the situation with Itachi?"

"I'll fill you in later. I'm in a hurry!" Kakashi said and ran off.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled after him. "That was weird..." He then mumbled to himself. He figured that whatever Kakashi was rushing to had to be important, so decided to go elsewhere.

Kakashi finally made it to Tsunade's office. Without knocking, he barged in. He examined the scene before him and felt an eerie wave of emotion wash over him. Speaking with the hokage was Danzo.

"I have received word from the prison guards that Itachi and Sasuke have been planning to attack the village..." The Leaf Village elder trailed off when he noticed Tsunade's gaze switch to the man who entered.

"Kakashi, I suspect you delivered the news?" She asked. Her words made the older male turn to Kakashi with a menacing look in his eye.

"I actually got side tracked and wanted to speak with you first." He replied, trying to cover the fact that he had been in the prison at the same time as Danzo.

"Your reason for not following my orders better be good, but it will have to wait. I'm in the middle of something."

"Yes," Danzo began, "you have no place being here at this time."

Kakashi apologized and left the room. He needed to wait for the opportunity to be alone with Tsunade; Danzo was planning something awful for the Uchiha brothers and was setting up mistrust towards them. Even though Tsunade did not trust Danzo, she trusted Itachi less.

He needed to do something before Danzo truly did gain the upper hand, but with him now fully aware that Kakashi heard his conversation with Itachi, that something would be difficult.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello! I would really appreciate reviews! I want to especially thank Rosebunse for reviewing so often! I really enjoy it! :)**

Sasuke had been hanging around in his apartment for several hours. Since his dwelling had been uninhabited for several years, there was no food, so he decided to go out and get something to eat. When he opened the door to leave, he saw a familiar face.

"Going somewhere?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, but what are you doing here?" Sasuke responded.

"I was coming to visit you, but you opened the door before I could knock," Naruto said, "where are you headed?"

"There's no food here, so I was going to get something to eat."

"Great! I'm starving! I'll come with you!"

"I wasn't planning on ramen..." Sasuke told him.

Naruto laughed to himself a little, "I can eat other food, too. I never do, but I'll make an exception."

The two teammates went to a little restaurant that served a variety of dishes.

"So what have you been doing today?" Naruto asked.

"I sat in the prison for a few hours, then I went to talk to the hokage, then I went home." Sasuke said emotionlessly.

"What did Granny Tsunade say?"

"She told me that she wants to believe that Danzo was behind everything, but she's not sure how to handle it."

"I'm sure she'll get it all under control," though Naruto was not sure of this himself, "it will al work out."

"I'm not so sure of that..." Sasuke sighed.

"Come on, when am I ever wrong about this stuff?"

Sasuke grinned. "When are you ever right?"

"You're so judgmental." Naruto barked at Sasuke.

"It's not my fault your clueless." He replied nonchalantly.

Naruto groaned, but became happier when he realized that Sasuke was the same person after so many years. "Even though I can't stand it, I'm glad that you haven't changed."

They continued to talk and criticize each other throughout the meal. After they finished, Sasuke told Naruto that he was going to see Itachi before it got dark. Even though he was not thrilled with the idea of picking up his conversation, he figured that it should not be left hanging the way it was earlier.

Sasuke walked down the hall of the prison to Itachi's location. As soon as Itachi saw who was approaching, he jumped up and rushed to the front of his cell.

"I came to talk to you about earlier today... We never really finished that conversation..." Sasuke said awkwardly. He wasn't looking forward to finishing it, though.

"I understand, but first I have a favor to ask of you: I need you to stay here with me." Itachi requested.

Sasuke looked at Itachi suspiciously. "Why would I stay here?"

"I spoke with Danzo earlier today; he was threatening to kill you." Itachi answered gravely.

"I think that I could handle him." Sasuke responded.

"I know that you're skilled; I fought against you if you don't remember," Itachi began sarcastically, "but I don't want Danzo to get near you. He is the one who ordered the eradication of our clan; he wants to remove us."

"If that's the case, I'll go after him!" Sasuke shouted.

Itachi was quick to respond. "No, Sasuke, that's just what he wants. If you do that, the village won't trust either of us. It will make his plan that much easier."

"You're underestimating me!" Sasuke yelled.

"I'm not; I know you're good, I'm merely saying that I don't want you to get into this. I am responsible for the situation at hand and I am responsible for you."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I'm you're older brother. I have that right."

"And I'm your younger brother, so I won't listen to you."

"Sasuke, I'm not going to take any chances; if you hadn't come here, I would have come to find you. Don't make this so difficult."

They stared each other down for a few moments in silence. Sasuke was the first to give in, allowing Itachi to be victorious in their superiority contest.

Itachi busted the lock on his door to allow his little brother to enter the cell. As Sasuke walked in, he had to ask Itachi a question.

"I know you could have broken out any time, so why didn't you?"

"I don't want to start any trouble, unlike you." He closed the door, though the lock would not latch again. Sasuke stood towards the back of the chamber with no indication of settling in.

"You might want to get comfortable," Itachi said, "I'm not letting you leave any time soon."


	20. Chapter 20

It had been dark for several hours, though the two brothers located in the prison could not tell since there was a lack of windows. Itachi sat against the wall, and though sleep was tempting since it was late, he forced himself to stay awake.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had nodded off. He was laying on the hard, stone floor with his back facing the elder Uchiha. The younger had fallen asleep only a few minutes after sitting down, and in his slumber, he gradually sank down to his current position on the floor.

Sasuke slowly started to wake, but the sights he opened his eyes to stirred up terrifying memories. His surroundings looked nearly identical to underground lair that Orochimaru resided in.

His older brother noticed that he was rousing and reached a hand over to him. Itachi placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, but that was a mistake.

When Sasuke felt the touch, he lost it.

"Don't touch me!" He screamed and seized the appendage.

Itachi immediately pulled hideout out of his brother's grip. "Are you okay?" He asked with clear concern on his face.

Sasuke quickly flipped around to see that it was not Orochimaru touching him, but instead his eyes met the worried look on Itachi's face. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it." Itachi replied kindly. It didn't take much to figure out why Sasuke acted the way he did; that snake left quite a lasting impression on him.

Neither of they said anything else for several moments, but the anguish expressed on the younger male's face compelled Itachi to speak.

"That experience must have been horrific, but you know that it will never happen again."

The word experience was not fitting; a more appropriate term would have been extended period of torture.

"Yeah, but that won't change the fact that I had to go through it." Sasuke replied gravely.

"I know; I also want to say that I'll be here for you no matter what, so you're free to let out any emotions you may have."

Sasuke pulled his knees up and rested his head in his arms which were sitting upon his knees. He placed himself in that position to hide his grieving eyes from Itachi. The elder could see that Sasuke was suffering and moved to sit next to him. He put an arm around Sasuke's shoulder to comfort his little brother.

"It's going to be all right, little brother." Itachi assured him.

"You don't know how revolting it felt... Every single day he would get on top of me and drive himself into me..." Sasuke reluctantly confessed. "It was so degrading; it made me feel nauseated."

Listening to his kid brother's history with Orochimaru both enraged and appalled Itachi. To think that his poor brother was only twelve years old when the Sannin began his cruel defiling was unsightly, and to be aware that it occurred for three consecutive years was even more unnerving.

The more Sasuke thought about his shameful past, the more his horrifying memories flooded his mind. Since Itachi was there with him, one particular instance forced its way to the surface.

_-flashback-_

_Sasuke had been out for most of the day; he wanted to avoid both Orochimaru and Kabuto as much as possible, but knew that he would have to return eventually. Once he retreated to the lair, Sasuke went to a room in a remote part of the hideout. _

_He normally headed straight for his room, but decided that if he remained in an unknown section it would be possible that Orochimaru would not find him. His plan seemed to work for a while, but the snake ultimately ended up slithering to his location. _

_"I didn't think I would discover you in this area," Orochimaru began, "what are you doing all the way over here, my dear boy?"_

_There was no way Sasuke could admit to hiding, so he claimed another reason. "I was simply walking around and ended up here."_

_"What were you hoping to accomplish by that?" Orochimaru inquired. _

_"Nothing, really. I'm always in the same place, so I figured I would see what else there is around here." Sasuke lied, though he was generally found in his room. _

_"So you decided to snoop around, huh?" _

_"No; I was just bored." _

_"You can say what you like, Sasuke, but I know you've been in this very spot for almost three hours now." _

_Sasuke swallowed hard; lying to Orochimaru was not in his best interest, but it never got him anything worse than his daily violation. _

_"It doesn't matter where you are, so long as I still own that perfect body of yours." Orochimaru smirked. "Shall we begin?"_

_Sasuke didn't answer; even if he refused the offer, it wouldn't make a difference. Part of him wanted to try, but the other part scolded those thoughts since worse pain would result from refusing. _

_Instead of just throwing the boy onto his stomach and pushing in, Orochimaru decided to do something different that day. He took Sasuke's shaft into his mouth and tempted the boy with immense pleasure. Being the first time the young one had ever been touched in such a way, his young body responded to Orochimaru's liking. _

_It made Sasuke feel gross since he was being pleased by the snake, but his physical satisfaction overruled his ill thoughts and allowed him to indulge in the touches of the older male. Orochimaru knew how to use his flexible tongue to create pure bliss for his young victim; he teased the boy for several moments and watched as the young man's face begged for more. The Sannin made sure to keep Sasuke from peaking until he pleaded for elation, but granted his pupil the pleasure when he let a moan escape his lips. _

_ His inexperienced body took only a short time to climax, and the Sannin was elated when his pupil succumbed to him. After releasing, the pleasure subsided and left a sense of guilt and disgust renew itself in Sasuke's mind; this time the feelings of revulsion were worse since he permitted himself to indulge in his master's caress. _

_"I'm glad you are enjoying yourself, my dear Sasuke." Orochimaru purred as he turned the boy around for entry. "Since I have allowed you to experience such ecstasy, I expect you to offer the same for me." _

_Orochimaru proceeded to shamelessly rip into the young teen. He drove himself harshly inside of Sasuke, which caused the boy massive pain. The Sannin justified his more severe thrusts by the fact that he had allowed Sasuke his own pleasure. _

_The agony was too great for the boy to endure; Orochimaru grew wilder and harsher with each plunge. He usually attempted to be humane with young Sasuke, but this time the snake moved without limits. _

_Sasuke could not hold back his screams. His outcries were atrocious; the pain he was enduring at the current time made his prior affairs seem rather mild, though at the time he thought they were awful._

_After Orochimaru finished, he removed his shaft from the boy who sobbed uncontrollably from his physical suffering. The pale man examined the pathetic sight of Sasuke choking for air through his whimpers._

_"My, my... I wonder what your brother would think if he were to see you in such sad shape." Orochimaru taunted. "He would surely be disappointed that you are so weak." _

_The cruel words spoken by the Sannin only made the boy wail harder. It was true; if Itachi was to see him act in such a pathetic manner he would be thoroughly unsatisfied since he had high expectations for his younger brother. Either way, Sasuke continued to break down, even after Orochimaru had left. _

_-end flashback-_

Though Sasuke did not mention his memory, Itachi could tell that his brother was reliving one of his experiences. Sasuke sunk down on himself to shield his cries from Itachi, but the elder would not allow him to crumple up.

Instead, he pulled Sasuke towards him and held the younger male firmly to his torso. Itachi pressed his little brother into his chest and stroked his hair in attempt to soothe him. Though he could not relate to the abuse Sasuke had endured, Itachi knew that it must have been horrifying.

"It's going to be okay, Sasuke. I'll not going to leave your side; you'll get through this, and I'll be here to help you." Itachi assured Sasuke, who continued to heavily weep into his older brother's figure. Sasuke clung tightly to the fabric of Itachi's shirt as the elder kept trying to comfort him.


	21. Chapter 21

Time seemed to tick by slowly since the night was not an enjoyable one for either brother. Sasuke was still collapsed against Itachi, and he continued to wept, though to a much lesser degree now. The older of the brothers had his arms placed around Sasuke and proceeded to make comforting gestures.

Neither of the two noticed an approaching shinobi until he stood before them. Their heads snapped up in unison when the jonin spoke.

"I thought I might find you here." Kakashi said before noticing the tears streaming down Sasuke's face. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with." Itachi replied upon seeing his little brother's embarrassment at the situation. "Why have you come here?"

"I overheard you're conversation with Danzo yesterday. I tried to inform the hokage, but he got to her office before I did," Kakashi admitted sheepishly, "anyway, I decided to wait until today to take any action. Then it occurred to me that Sasuke may be in danger since he was alone in his apartment. I went over there as soon as it got light outside, and when I realized he wasn't there, I assumed you might have made him stay here."

"You're pretty sharp," Itachi said as he continued to keep his hold on Sasuke. And though his younger brother tried to pull away since Kakashi was witnessing, Itachi knew he was still upset and wouldn't release him.

"I'm not sure what the next step in this whole thing is," Kakashi confessed, "I was hoping that you might have an idea."

"To be honest, I haven't really had much time to think about that. I've been preoccupied for most of the night; I actually wasn't aware that it was already morning." Itachi replied looking at his little brother.

Kakashi examined the two seated on the floor. "I think that Sasuke needs to leave."

Sasuke shot a dirty look at the man for saying that; Itachi was the only one who was able to offer him any true comfort, and he didn't want to give that up.

"I pressure you have a reason behind that." Itachi commented; he did not want Sasuke to be removed from his sight. He felt responsible for his little brother and wanted to watch over him.

"At Lady Tsunade's office, Danzo was saying that the two of you were plotting. If anyone other than myself catches you together, it will only make his claim stronger."

Itachi hated to admit it, but that was true. "I understand," he said and turned his attention back to Sasuke, "I'm sorry, brother, but you need to go."

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"You know that being here is going to make things more complex. I want you to go." Itachi responded. "Kakashi, I need you to look after Sasuke since I can't."

"I'll do my best. You won't have to worry about him." Kakashi assured them.

"You're treating me like a child!" Sasuke exclaimed. "I can take care of myself; I don't need Kakashi to babysit me."

"I know that your capable, but I don't want to chance it. Danzo wants to finish what he started and kill you. He has a ton of dirty tricks; I'm only looking out for your well being."

Kakashi awkwardly watched as the two of them bickered. He was astonished that only moments ago Sasuke was being soothed by the elder; sibling relationships are like that, though.

"Look," Kakashi finally decided to intervene, "Sasuke, you can either stay with me or have me follow you around everywhere. It's up to you."

"Do you both think I'm so pathetic that I can't even defend myself?" Sasuke asked when they ganged up on him.

"No, but Danzo has a whole faction of the Anbu under his control. Being alone when he is after you is asking to die." Kakashi replied.

"Fine." Sasuke finally obliged, much to Itachi's relief.

"Okay, let's go. I have a lot to do today if we want to sort this mess out." Kakashi said.

Sasuke got up from the floor and opened the unlocked door. Itachi felt bad that he forced Sasuke away as he often used to when they were children, but it was in both of their best interests. "Forgive me, Sasuke. I know that you need me right now, but we can't afford to stay together at the current time."

Sasuke knew that Itachi spoke the truth, but it was still saddening. He did need his older brother to comfort him, but the present would not allow for that to happen. He reluctantly left the prison with Kakashi.

After they had exited, Kakashi spoke. "For the time being, I need you to either stay with me or be in a public place; Danzo would not openly attack where there are witnesses. You will also be living with me; it's the only way for me to keep full watch over you."

"This is ridiculous. I only agreed to this because Itachi was so concerned, so don't expect me to be happy around you." Sasuke muttered.

"I want you to go into town; meet me outside of Lady Tsunade's building in an hour. I need to speak with her." Kakashi ordered. Sasuke could not believe that his old teacher was taking such measures to protect him since he had defected. Though, Kakashi was always dedicated to his teammates and would risk it all for them.


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks for reading! Enjoy!**

After Kakashi saw that Sasuke was located in a crowd of people, he went to Tsunade. He knocked on her door and entered.

She turned from the window to face him. "Kakashi, you're just the person I wanted to see."

"I've been trying to get a chance to speak with you for a while now; I have some new information regarding the Uchiha situation." Kakashi replied.

"That's what I wanted to talk about, as well," Tsunade said, "Danzo told me something very interesting yesterday-"

"He was lying." Kakashi cut in. "When I was going to the prison, I overheard him talking to Itachi. He wants to finish the eradication of the Uchiha - he even threatened to kill Sasuke."

Tsunade made an angry face. "I figured he was lying about Itachi and Sasuke making plans to attack, but I wouldn't have guessed he would go so far as to threaten Itachi..."

"Now that we are positive of Itachi's innocence, what are you going to do?"

"Until I can do something about Danzo, my decision stands. If Itachi were to be freed, that old swindler would turn everyone against him, and most people already hate him."

"I don't think he'll have a problem with that. He could have left already if he so desired." Kakashi said as he thought about the broken lock on Itachi's cell door.

"I'm glad that you happened to overhear them; this has proven to me that Danzo needs to go." Tsunade said. "You can go now. I appreciate your assistance."

Kakashi left after bidding farewell to the hokage. He planned on being there for a longer time, so he had to wait a while before Sasuke met him outside.

"When you said an hour, I figured I'd have to wait a long time before you actually showed up." Sasuke said. He had not forgotten about Kakashi's habit of being late for everything.

"Well, I finished early and decided to wait for you this time," Kakashi replied, "let's go to my apartment now. It's nearly lunchtime, so we can eat there."

Once inside Kakashi's home, the jonin showed Sasuke his new bed: a lovely sofa that was too short for Sasuke to fully lay down on.

"I usually don't have guests... but make yourself at home." Kakashi said. He whipped up a simple meal for both of them and began to chow down.

Sasuke wasn't really in the mood to eat, so he just sat on his "new bed." Shortly after Kakashi finished his lunch, someone knocked on the door. The man opened the door to reveal Naruto.

"Kakashi sensei, have you seen Sasuke? I wanted to train with him, but I can't find him." Naruto said, but before Kakashi could answer, the blond spotted his target on the couch. "Why is Sasuke in here?"

Not wanting to worry Naruto, the elder came up with a cover. "He came by for lunch; we had some things to discuss."

"But he hasn't been home since yesterday afternoon." Naruto states plainly.

"That's because his apartment is being renovated." Kakashi replied. The last thing he wanted was for Naruto to find out about Danzo; that would make things much worse since the teen went crazy over everything.

"No it's not; I went there four times looking for him," Naruto said, "why are you making up stories? Are you trying to hide something from me, Kakashi Sensei?"

"I'm staying here because there is some sort of infestation in my apartment building. It's really bad, so I came here." Sasuke finally joined in.

"You decided to stay with him over me? It would be so much more fun at my place..." Naruto sighed. He often got lonely in his home and wanted some company.

"Last time I checked, you only have one place to sleep; you don't even have a couch. I'm better off here." Sasuke replied as he stretched his arms above his head.

"I guess you have a point there, but I didn't come looking for you to talk about my shabby apartment. Let's head over to the training grounds."

"I haven't been training much lately, so I guess I'll go." Sasuke said and rose from his seat.

Kakashi turned to face him. "Actually, I think you should stay here."

Sasuke glared at him. The only reason he even agreed to stay with the jonin was due to Itachi, and he didn't want to make his older brother worry about him more. He certainly wasn't going to let Kakashi keep him from doing regular activities.

"I'm not staying here all day if that's what you want." Sasuke replied.

"Then I'm coming with you." Kakashi stated.

"I don't want you to come." Sasuke retorted. "I'm not going out alone; Naruto will be there, too."

Naruto was confused about the situation. He wasn't sure why Kakashi didn't want Sasuke on his own; the whole thing seemed strange.

"I'm sure that Itachi would feel better if I came along." Kakashi declared.

"What's going on?" Naruto finally asked.

Neither of them wanted to drag Naruto into the mess, so they acted as if nothing had happened. "Everything's fine, Naruto." Kakashi smiled.

"Then why are you arguing? You're acting like Sasuke isn't allowed to go anywhere without you."

"That's not it at all." Sasuke replied, though he directed his statement towards Kakashi. He hated having to rely on other people, and that wasn't going to change due to his current predicament.

"So are you coming then?" Naruto asked. He didn't intend to stand around forever.

"Yes." Both of them responded. Sasuke hated it, but there was no getting around the jonin. Even if he told him to back off, Kakashi would still follow him.

"Great! The more the merrier!" Naruto exclaimed and ran off.

_I hope that this is resolved soon_, Kakashi thought, _Sasuke's just as stubborn as before; he might even be worse. _


	23. Chapter 23

It was early in the morning, and Kakashi was still asleep. Sasuke hadn't had time alone in days and decided that now was his chance to get some. He silently crept to the door and opened it; he was relieved when he finally slipped away from Kakashi. Though the man was only looking out for him, Sasuke could not handle more time being stuck with him, and the Uchiha knew that Kakashi would not rise for a few more hours to catch him out.

He strolled through the streets that were empty since it was so early and thought over the last week. So much had happened to him recently; it was difficult for him to keep it straight in his mind.

He didn't notice when Naruto approached him until the blond spoke. "So what's the deal with you and Kakashi Sensei?"

Sasuke looked up from the ground to his friend. "I already told you. There is an-"

"Yeah, yeah; there's a bug infestation or whatever. That's not what I mean. I never see you by yourself anymore. You are always with him, and it seems kind of weird since you usually can't stand people."

"It's none of your business."

"So there is something! I honestly didn't know if there was... But that proves it!"

Sasuke kicked himself; if he hadn't said anything, Naruto would still have no clue that anything was up.

"So are you going to tell me?" Naruto persisted.

"I said it has nothing to do with you."

"Yeah, but you seem really annoyed about it... You can tell me."

"I'm seem annoyed because you keep bothering me."

"I can't believe I wanted you back here! All you do is insult me!"

Sasuke grinned. "You just make it so easy."

"Whatever... So anyway... Please tell me what's going on with you!" Naruto begged and grabbed Sasuke's arm to make him seem more desperate.

"Get off!" Sasuke protested and pried Naruto's hands from his arm.

Naruto had just realized something he failed to notice before. "Why isn't Kakashi Sensei with you now?"

Sasuke tried to think up a story, but Naruto caught on to his hesitation. "He doesn't know you left, does he?"

"Of course he does." Sasuke snapped.

"I might not know why you're always with him, but I can see that you're not supposed to be out right now." Naruto grinned. "So... Do you want to tell me what's happening?"

"I don't see why you think you have something over my head." Sasuke said.

"Fine; I guess I'll just go talk to Kakashi Sensei about it. I'm sure he'd love to know that you're not there!"

"Don't!" Sasuke yelled. He didn't really care if Kakashi knew, but he didn't want Itachi finding out that about it. His older brother would be extremely disgruntled and probably try to reprimand him.

Naruto had a sly look on his face. "If you tell me, he'll never know you were gone."

Sasuke went in depth to explain the situation to Naruto. After he got through, Naruto thought over everything Sasuke said.

"So Danzo is trying to kill you?" Naruto asked.

"Be quiet for once, would you?" Sasuke hushed his friend; there were more people out and about now, and this information was not to be spread.

"Sorry," Naruto replied, "if that's true, why are you out here?"

"I've been stuck with Kakashi for days. I can't stand him anymore; I don't dislike him, but being around him all day is horrible." Sasuke sighed.

"It's not all that bad, is it?" Both Sasuke and Naruto froze when they heard this voice. They stiffly rotated their heads to look at Kakashi, who was standing behind them.

"Hey there, Kakashi Sensei..." Naruto nervously chuckled after greeting his teacher.

"Hello, Naruto." Kakashi said, "could you excuse us?"

"Umm, yeah. That's no problem..." The blond answered. He quickly got up from the bench he and Sasuke were sitting on and fled the area.

"Do you care to explain?" Kakashi asked.

"I have nothing to explain to you." Sasuke replied.

"You might not be taking this whole thing seriously, but it's very dangerous for you to be on your own right now."

"You said I can be in public places."

"That's true, but this early there is barely anyone out, so it doesn't make it safe."

Sasuke glared at Kakashi. "I didn't ask for your help, and I don't want it."

"That's too bad. Sasuke, you're still my student and I'm not going to let you expose yourself like this."

Sasuke thought over his words. It made him somewhat glad that after everything, Kakashi still considered him to be precious.

"We'll now that I've found you, I think you should go see Itachi." Kakashi said.

"Why? You're the one who said to stay away from him."

"I went there to look for you earlier, and then he asked where you were," Kakashi started; his words terrified Sasuke since he knew Itachi would be angry with him, "it's needless to say that he got extremely worried. He almost came looking for you himself, but I told him that I would find you. Then he told me that once I did, you needed to go see him."

Sasuke always hated it when his big brother was mad at him, and something this serious was sure to bring out Itachi's rage.


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank you, JuliaUchiwa for reviewing! You are the best! :)**

****"What were you thinking?" Itachi asked upon seeing his little brother.

"I'm sorry, Itachi..." Sasuke replied.

"You never used to listen to anything I would tell you, but this is ridiculous." Itachi scolded his little brother. "Do you want to get killed?"

Sasuke didn't know what to say back. Itachi was always the one who acted as more of a father figure to him, so he often used to be lectured by his older brother.

"You're so foolish; I understand that being around the same person for days could get annoying, but you could have been attacked today."

"I can defend myself." Sasuke stammered.

"Okay; let's say you defend yourself and end up attacking whoever Danzo sent after you. Now you look like you are fighting members of root. That will only make this easier for him!"

"I don't need you to tell me what to do; I was on my own for years, and-"

"And you ended up going to Orochimaru!" Itachi finished his sentence, though that wasn't how Sasuke planned on ending it.

"Whose fault is that?" Sasuke spit back.

That hit Itachi hard, "... It's mine... But I didn't intend for that to happen. You chose to go to him; I never thought that would occur."

"It's still your fault." Sasuke argued.

"I know that, and I am sorry, but it just proves that you don't always make the best choices for yourself. Even if I'm the one who drove you towards power, you could have obtained it other ways."

"Well if you hadn't attacked me in that hotel a few years ago, I probably wouldn't have done that."

"I attacked you? I think you have that backwards; you went ballistic and wouldn't give up when you were clearly beaten."

"You're the one who told me to seek revenge against you, so I had no choice but to fight you."

"That wasn't even a fight; I broke your wrist and you fell on the ground screaming. I didn't even get a scratch on me."

"You are five years older than me; of course a twelve year old would lose against you."

Itachi was getting fed up. "That's enough of this; I don't think either of us will benefit from going over the last few years."

"You started this..." Sasuke mumbled.

"I said that we're done with that conversation. The point is that what you did was really stupid. I don't want anything to happen to you; we have both clearly gone through too much to just give up now."

"You're right," Sasuke admitted, "I'll stay with Kakashi..."

"That's not going to happen. I don't care if it makes this worse; I decided that you are staying with me."

"I'm not going to stay in prison." Sasuke declared.

"That's too bad; you're staying here until I leave. Fortunately, Lady Tsunade is working this all out and it should only be a short time before that happens."

"But I-"

"Stop arguing with me. You're only making things worse for yourself by doing that. Whether you like it or not, I'm your older brother, and I'm going to take care of you. So as I said last time, make yourself as comfortable as possible."

Sasuke knew that Itachi wasn't going to let him leave, so he once again sat down on the floor.

Lady Tsunade was sitting in her office desperately trying to figure out a solution. She must have thought up ten different possibilities, but none of them would work.

She finally concluded that for the time being, the best option would be the first she came up with. The woman began to fill out a form and called for Shizune.

"I want you to take this to the prison; if they ask any questions, just tell them it is classified and must not be discussed."

"Are you sure about this?" Shizune asked as she reviewed the document.

"Yes. For the sake of several important lives, it must be done."

Shizune headed off towards the building that held the criminals. She walked up to the main guard and handed him the paper.

"You're asking me to release Itachi Uchiha?" He said in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Why would anyone want that?"

"The details are private, but Lady Hokage has given you direct orders to free him." Shizune stated.

"I don't get this, but if she thinks it's a good idea..." He scratched his head and walked through a locked door.

Itachi heard footsteps coming; the prisoners were allowed visitors, but Sasuke was not supposed to be in the cell. Before the guard rounded the corner, Itachi pulled the door open and shoved Sasuke out.

"What was that all about?" Sasuke asked after getting up from being pushed down by Itachi.

"Someone's coming, and I think it's the guard." Itachi said.

To prove his statement, the guard walked over to them. He looked at Sasuke first.

"I didn't know you were still here..." The man then turned his attention to Itachi. "For some reason, the hokage gave me orders to let you go. Come on."

The three of them walked back through the door to see Shizune waiting. She thanked the guard for obliging and took the two Uchihas outside.

"I'm glad that you're here, too, Sasuke. Lady Tsunade wants to see both of you." She informed them.


	25. Chapter 25

**Sorry for making you wait a few days! I've been traveling a lot recently and haven't had much time to write; either way, here is chapter 25! There is no Uchihacest in this story; sorry for those that want it, but I prefer a brotherly relationship for them!**

"Kakashi came and spoke with me after he saw you this morning, Itachi." Tsunade said. "I don't want anyone finding out that Danzo is after Sasuke, and I know he will keep his distance if you two are together.

"That makes sense, but people seeing me in public isn't the best idea either." Itachi noted.

"I realize that, but if something happens to Sasuke, people will hear about it and that could cause more problems than simply seeing you."

"I suppose you're right, and this way I can keep an eye on you." Itachi said to Sasuke.

"I still want you to keep a low profile, but I think it would be best if you look after Sasuke since he won't obey Kakashi." She squinted at the younger brother. "Do you know how wreckless that was?"

Sasuke was tired of people calling him out for just trying to get some alone time. "I know; everyone I have seen today has said that."

"Good; that will help you realize your mistake. Regardless of people telling you that; the best way to ensure your safety is to have Itachi watch you."

Sasuke would rather have his older brother with him than Kakashi, so he obliged.

"Many of the younger people in the village won't recognize you, Itachi. Just in case, you need to do what I said and avoid drawing attention to yourself." Tsunade added.

"I will; thank you for all you have done." Itachi said. After they were dismissed, the brothers walked back to Sasuke's apartment.

"Well, I suppose I'll be here for a while." Itachi said upon entering the dwelling.

"There might be a problem with this..." Sasuke sighed looking over the interior of his home.

Itachi caught on as he scanned the apartment. "There's no where for me to sleep."

Sasuke's home may have been nicer than Naruto's, but both places were nearly the same in size. Neither spaces were big enough to hold more than one bed, and there was no room for a couch either.

"So what are we going to do?" Itachi asked.

"I guess you'll just have to sleep on the floor." Sasuke answered.

"I've been sleeping on a floor for days." Itachi protested.

"Then you're used to it."

"Why don't we just share your bed?"

Sasuke looked at his brother. "Why would I want to do that?"

"You used to come and sleep in my bed when you were little and had bad dreams; besides, there isn't anywhere for me." Itachi reasoned.

"That's different; I was small enough to fit in your bed comfortably. Now it would just be troublesome since we are both bigger than we used to be." Sasuke countered.

"If you had listened to me and stayed with Kakashi, I wouldn't have to stay here. It might be an unfortunate arrangement, but it will have to do."

"... Fine..." Sasuke finally agreed. Itachi was his brother, after all, so it wouldn't be that bad.

Itachi looked at his little brother with a bit of concern on his face. "I wanted to ask you how you are feeling about your situation with Orochimaru. I know you are still struggling with that."

Sasuke gazed at the floor. He knew Itachi was only trying to console him, but he hated speaking about his time of abuse with the Sannin.

"I'm doing better since I talked to you about it, but I don't know if I will ever accept that it happened."

Itachi put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "It's going to get better, and you can always rely on me if you need to."

Even after bickering just moments before, the two brothers had a connection that could not be broken. The younger one embraced the elder; the bond of siblings that they shared comforted Sasuke, even after all he had gone through.

The first night Itachi and Sasuke shared was rather unpleasant for both of them. Though Sasuke's bed was big enough for two adults, they could still not get comfortable.

"Stop moving around so much!" Sasuke whispered.

"Calm down; I'm just trying to get comfortable."

Sasuke shifted around and spoke again. "You're making me uncomfortable by moving so much."

After several more minutes, Itachi finally settled in. Both brothers fell asleep rather quickly, but their slumber was short.

Sasuke rolled over in his sleep and flung his arm onto Itachi's face. The action woke the elder who was not pleased. Instead of complaining, he simply moved Sasuke's arm away from him and tried to position him so that he could not unconsciously assault him again.

Being moved around woke up Sasuke. Feeling hands on him in the dark made him uneasy at first, but he soon remembered that it was not Orochimaru who was touching him. The feeling still brought back ill thoughts, though.

"Itachi?"

The older Uchiha felt bad for waking his younger brother. "Sorry, Sasuke, I was just trying to get your arms off of me..."

Sasuke flipped over to face his brother. "It's not that..." His sibling realized what it was right away. This happened the last time Sasuke woke up to his touch, and that time he also panicked.

"I didn't mean to bring any memories back. Please forgive me." Itachi said.

Sasuke buried his face in the pillow; he was starting to get worked up again and didn't want to make Itachi feel guiltier.

"You don't have to hide anything from me; I'm your brother, and I'm not going to judge you." The elder noted as he attempted to calm Sasuke by stroking his hair.

"I want to forget that he ever touched me; it was the worst feeling I have ever had." Sasuke confessed. Stating such a thing made it clear just how awful those experiences were since Sasuke had witnessed his parents being killed.

"I know it doesn't change anything at this point, but if anyone tries to touch you with negative intentions, I will personally make them regret it." Itachi said.

"You've already done so much for me... And I hated you for it; I don't want you to concern yourself with my mistakes."

"I wouldn't have done anything for you if I didn't care. You're my little brother and the most important thing to me. It would be ridiculous if I gave up on you now." Itachi said, adding the last sentence to lighten the mood a bit.

Sasuke pulled his face out of the pillow he covered it in moments ago. He stared at his brother who was still trying to help him calm down. It was hard for him to believe that this was the man he hated when all Itachi had done was for his little brother's benefit. "I'm sorry that I ever doubted you."

"That's not your fault; I made you believe that I despised you... I didn't want you to be pulled into a matter that you had nothing to do with, but in doing so, I caused you nothing but suffering." Itachi sighed.

"You didn't intend to do that; you were only doing what you had to."

"I assure you that from now on, all I will do is protect you the way I should have from the beginning." Itachi stated firmly.

Sasuke had always been comforted by Itachi's words; the present was no exception to that. After being consoled by his older brother, Sasuke was able to sleep again. Prior to their discussion, Itachi 's presence so close to Sasuke was a nuisance, but having the one he too treasured the most nearby made it easier to slumber.


	26. Chapter 26

**I'm trying to get updates out quickly! I'm just really busy since I'm on vacation; it's not every day that I'm at the beach, so I am trying to write and enjoy my surroundings at the same time :)**

Itachi woke up the next morning to find Sasuke laying partially on top of him. He didn't attempt to move Sasuke away from the fear that he might cause his little brother to panic yet again. He was also somewhat pleased that Sasuke was able to get close to him again; something that had not happened in years.

The elder tried to stay still in order to let his troubled sibling sleep, but having another body on him was quite annoying. However, Itachi decided that allowing his brother some peace was more important than his own comfort level. Fortunately, Sasuke awoke after only a few more moments.

At first, he had forgotten that his brother was even there, but after noticing he was on a lump that was Itachi's torso, his memory refreshed itself. He pulled himself to the side so that he was laying solely on the bedding once again.

"Sorry..." Sasuke said with a groggy voice and his eyes still closed.

"I don't mind, but you're much heavier than you used to be." Itachi replied as he thought of how simple it used to be to carry young Sasuke.

"Considering you haven't been around me in eight years, it would seem that way." Sasuke finally opening his eyes, though they still tried to cling shut.

"You should go back to sleep; I know you were up a lot last night, and you look like you can barely keep your eyes open." Itachi noted as he looked at Sasuke.

"I just woke up; I should look that way." Sasuke responded. "But I think I might go back to sleep anyway..."

"As far as I'm concerned, you can sleep all day. We both have no where to be, so there's no reason you can't." Itachi said; besides, it would be less trouble for him if Sasuke were to stay put.

"Itachi is staying with Sasuke now; I decided that would be best." Tsunade said to Kakashi.

"Have you decided what to do about Danzo?" He asked.

"The way things are now, I don't see what I can do. Getting rid of him wouldn't be without cost since many are unaware of his work..." Tsunade sighed, "he has been here as long as the third hokage, so many civilians would see it as my wrong instead of his."

"That could be a problem..." Kakashi agreed.

"Perhaps we could dismiss him if the villagers were to see his foul intentions. I want you to bring Itachi Uchiha here. I need to speak with him."

Itachi's plan of having Sasuke sleep and give himself some rest was working quite well. It had been several hours and the youngest Uchiha was still inactive in a state of slumber, which was understandable since he had not gotten much rest the previous night.

The older brother had been doing various things while the younger slept, mainly only simple simple household chores. He had just reached a stopping point when Sasuke finally got up.

Itachi noticed Sasuke emerging and looked over to him. "I'm guessing you slept well?"

"Yeah... But I've already wasted half of my day. I hate that feeling."

"You obviously needed it, and I'm glad to see that you are sleeping so soundly considering everything." After he completed his statement, there was a knock on the door. "I'll let you get that in case it's someone who shouldn't see me..."

"What if it's one of Danzo's men?" Sasuke asked jokingly as he walked to the door.

"Maybe I should answer it then... You could be right." Itachi said and started towards the door as well.

"I wasn't being serious; there's a bigger chance that it's someone you shouldn't see. Actually, it's probably neither since a lot of people aren't pleased with me at the moment; I'm willing to bet it's just Naruto or someone else like that."

"At least ask who it is before you open the door." Itachi instructed.

"Fine," he got closer to the entryway so whoever it was could easily hear him through the barrier, "who's there?"

"It's Kakashi; I'm here to see Itachi." The jonin replied. The younger Uchiha opened the door to reveal the masked man. The older make looked at his former student; he looked like he had just woken up though it was already late in the afternoon.

"What did you come to see me about?" Itachi asked from a few feet behind his little brother.

"Lady Tsunade would like to see you."

"I figured she would want to speak with me again," he then looked to Sasuke and spoke to him, "get dressed; we mustn't keep the hokage waiting."

"Actually," Kakashi interjected before Sasuke moved, "she wants to see you alone."

"Then what do you suppose I do with Sasuke?"

"I can look after him."

"The previous time you did that, he fled from you." Itachi responded as he looked at his brother.

"I doubt he will be stuck with me for days again; he should be fine for an hour or so." Kakashi replied.

"That's fine with me." Sasuke agreed. He didn't want to get Itachi angry at him again, so he figured he should go along with the plan.

"You better stay with him this time," Itachi demanded, "if you don't, I will make you regret it."

"I'm not going to, and stop acting like you are the one making my decisions for me. I am capable of thinking for myself." Sasuke hissed. It was getting on his nerves that Itachi was still treating him like a small child.

"I'm only doing what is in your best interest. You're still my little brother, after all." Itachi confirmed. He felt obliged to keep Sasuke safe and cared for; he failed in giving him proper direction before and was not about to mess up his path again.

"I'll stay here until Itachi gets back. Is that alright?" Kakashi asked.

"Sure. I'm going to get dressed and make lunch now." Sasuke informed them.

"Please don't cause trouble again. I'll be back soon." Itachi said before departing. Sasuke was getting extremely annoyed once again. Itachi was making him seem like even more of a child, and now he acted as if Kakashi was babysitting him as well as making him out to be a troublesome brat.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, so stop belittling me." Sasuke said before Itachi had left.

"In not trying to belittle you; I'm simply trying to maintain protection over you., and if telling you what you need to stop doing will help that, I will continue."

"You're still treating me like a child; it's annoying."

"I don't have time to engage in another argument with you at the moment; it will have to wait until later." Itachi stated before finally leaving. Kakashi found it a bit ironic that Itachi had done so much for Sasuke yet still got into petty quarrels with him. He supposed that even the ones who cared the most could still be irritated by those whom they loved.


	27. Chapter 27

**Thank you for the reviews everyone! Especially my two favorite reviewers: Rosebunse and JuliaUchiwa! **

"I will never allow that." Itachi said sternly to the hokage.

"It is our best possible choice, Itachi. It will limit the citizens view of the depths of Danzo's wrongdoing, but it will provide enough evidence for me to justifiably remove him."

"You're suggesting that I have Sasuke go see Danzo in order to have him attack? I know that my brother is powerful, especially since he has awakened the mangekyo sharingan, but I will not allow him to face Danzo directly."

"Sasuke won't be in any danger; I will make sure that I stop anything from happening, but I need to catch Danzo in the middle of something like this in order to remove him. If I were to witness Danzo attempting to eliminate Sasuke, I would have proof that he is doing things for personal gain."

"I have sacrificed too much to risk my brother's safety like this." Itachi protested.

"Kakashi and I have already planned it all out; there is virtually no way for Sasuke to be harmed."

"When placing a village elder who fears his own death and treasures his ideals above all else against someone he views as a threat to both of those, there is definitely a risk."

"I am the hokage; I will do what I deem necessary." Tsunade declared.

"And as Sasuke's older brother, I will do what is necessary of me to keep him safe." Itachi responded.

"Don't forget that you are still considered a criminal. Though I am against it, I will have to take measures against you if you try to disobey my orders." She threatened.

"Is this discussion over?" Itachi asked impatiently. Since he was aware that Kakashi had a part in this as well, he did not trust the man to watch over his brother, even though he knew that Kakashi was a good person.

"You may leave, but know that this must happen in order to protect the village." Tsunade warned. Itachi did not reply; instead, he rushed back to his brother to make sure that he was still okay. When he entered the apartment, he saw three people.

Two of them were conversing while the third was simply reading a book.

"Sakura was telling me how happy she was to see you again. I didn't really think you saw her yet, though." Naruto said to Sasuke who sat across the table from him.

"I saw her a few days ago, but she was just being annoying." Sasuke replied. Before Naruto could defend his other friend, Sasuke looked over at the doorway. "You're back faster than I expected."

"It was a brief meeting; I see all is well here?" Itachi noted in question form to make doublet sure.

"It's all going quite well. I presume you and Lady Tsunade worked out the rest of the details on the plan?" Kakashi asked looking up from his shameful book.

"Not exactly; I don't agree with her strategy." Itachi declared to the other man.

"I had a feeling that might be the case..." Kakashi tried to think up a way to convince Itachi to agree with the plan, but seeing as he had gone so far in the past to protect Sasuke, that would be rather difficult. "Well, since you're back, I'll be off now."

"So you don't have to stay with Kakashi Sensei anymore?" Naruto asked.

"You're a late to catch on, as usual," Sasuke replied, "Itachi has been staying here with me."

"Oh... I guess that would work out better," Naruto looked around the room for a second, "but where does he sleep?"

"On the floor." Sasuke quickly answered. He wasn't going to admit to sharing a bed with his brother.

"That's cruel to make him sleep on the floor." Naruto criticized his friend.

"I didn't ask you if you thought it was." Sasuke said.

"Why do you always have to act so superior and talk down to everyone?"

"I don't talk down to everyone; I mainly do it to losers like you." Sasuke answered, only furthering Naruto's sense of annoyance.

"I don't want to stop your deep conversation," Itachi started sarcastically, "but I'd really like to speak with Sasuke."

"Well, I guess you do get to claim his time since you're his brother; I guess I'll go see where Kakashi Sensei went." With that, Naruto wandered off in search of his jonin teacher.

After he was gone, Itachi took his seat across from Sasuke.

"What do you want to talk about?" The younger Uchiha asked as he leaned back in his seat.

Itachi sighed. "Lady Tsunade wants to use you to lure Danzo into exposing himself. She thinks that if you confront him, he will try to kill you and she can then get rid if him."

Sasuke thought over that plan. "That seems like a good idea to me."

"What?" Itachi was shocked. "You want to use yourself as bait and possibly be killed?"

"I'm not going to die; I can handle taking care of myself. Besides, I want to get that awful man away from us, so I don't see the harm in it."

Itachi looked with wide eyes at his little brother. "After everything you have gone through, you are willing to risk your life for that?"

"Yes, I am, though it doesn't seem like much of a risk," Sasuke tried to calculate the chance of anything going wrong, but have up since he did not know much about Danzo, "and we will both have to keep living like this if he stays. You will be ostracized and I will have to be shadowed by you."

"I know the situation is not ideal, but I don't want to let you act in such a way. This is too dangerous."

"I'm sure it can't be any worse than going to Orochimaru, and I will only have to he around him for a few minutes instead of three years."

"Orochimaru wasn't planning on killing you, though." Itachi stated.

"You're right; he was only planning on torturing me and then switching his soul into my body. That was much safer." Sasuke claimed through twisted humor.

"I know that was worse, but I wasn't there to stop you then. I'm here now, and I won't let you make a decision that has that much of an impact on you again."

"Would you stop pretending to act like you have control over everything I do?" Sasuke huffed. In reality, he was thankful that Itachi was looking out for him, but his pent up anger at his brother for leaving him was beginning to seep out again. He tried to suppress his ill feelings after finding out the truth, but he could not hold it in very well anymore.

"I know that I don't, but I want you to realize that I'm not going to allow you to do something so reckless." Itachi responded; he could tell that his brother was getting angry and tried to keep his tone relaxed.

"I've made my own decisions since I was only eight years old; I know I said this before, but I can take care of myself." Sasuke hissed.

"I don't want you to get hurt again..." Itachi revealed as his expression changed to sadness. "It is the worst feeling to me to know that you are going through any sort of pain. When I had to make you believe that I didn't care about you, it was awful, and I'm not going to put you through that again to any extent. That's why you can't do this."

Sasuke felt bad that he had begun to lose his temper; all Itachi cared about was his little brother... "I'm sorry for getting mad at you, but it's because I don't want you to concern yourself so much that I must try whatever I can to get rid of Danzo."

Itachi was extremely frustrated with his brother; why couldn't he just leave the situation alone? There would not be any possible way of successfully removing the village elder without consequence, so they should take their time and devise a better plan that didn't risk his precious brother's well being.

"If that is what you feel you must do, then I have no choice but to provide more of a vigilant watch over you."

The two brothers held silence between them after that statement. Both knew that something was bound to happen, but Itachi was certain that he would protect Sasuke at any cost.


	28. Chapter 28

**Hello! I hope you are enjoying the story!**

Night came extremely slowly for both of the Uchiha brothers. The younger was annoyed by his older brother's persistent watch, and the elder was tired of looking after Sasuke so closely. The time for sleep had finally arrived, and both brothers crawled into the same bed once more.

At first, Sasuke tried to pretend like Itachi wasn't there, but his constant moving made that rather difficult. "Do you move around like this every night?" Sasuke asked since the previous night was the same way.

"I just can't get comfortable." Itachi responded.

"We'll hurry up and get comfortable; I want to go to sleep, but I can't when you keep jerking around."

"Stop complaining." Itachi demanded as he finally settled in.

"Finally..." Sasuke muttered when the mattress was still. He was ready to go to sleep, but as usual, thoughts of his creepy time with Orochimaru pushed into the focus of his mind. He began to shift uncomfortably as he tried to force the thoughts away.

"Now look who's moving." Itachi teased, but when Sasuke was silent, he knew why the younger was awkwardly moving about. "Try not to think about it."

"I am trying... I can't help it; every night this happens." Sasuke admitted depressingly.

Itachi flipped around to face his brother; unfortunately, that also meant more time for him to get comfortable again. "What can I do to get your mind off of this?"

"Nothing; it doesn't just go away. It's already been quite a while since the last time..." Sasuke stopped mid sentence to regain composure, "and I still think about it."

"Why don't you try to think about other parts of your past? Like when we would visit Granny Cat?" Itachi offered his advice.

"I went there a few years ago, and she brought you up. I didn't know about you then, so I started yelling at her." Sasuke thought about his mission to get Nekomata's paw print.

"I suppose you should have gotten mad at the mention of my name... At least that part of our lives is behind us." Itachi was glad that Sasuke seemed to be straying from his previous train of thought, but the younger was only trying to deceive the elder into thinking he had forgotten Orochimaru.

The conversation died off and the two stayed still. Itachi did not want to keep Sasuke awake, and Sasuke wanted to make Itachi believe that he was doing okay. In reality, his brain was overloaded with I'll memories...

-flashback-

It was only a few months before Sasuke put an end to Orochimaru's reign of terror over him, but the treatment he received on a nightly basis remained just as cruel. In fact, it seemed worse since Sasuke's body would not be available to intrude once the body transference was complete.

This particular instance started a bit unusually; Sasuke had finished training, but Orochimaru did not seek him out afterwards.

Instead, he told Sasuke that he was to go directly to Kabuto. Once the Uchiha arrived in the medic's lab, the man looked up from his work.

"I wasn't so sure if you would actually obey your orders." Kabuto said blatantly.

"I did, so why am I here?" Sasuke wanted to get directly to the point.

"Be patient for once, would you?" Kabuto said in an irritated tone; there was always clear animosity between these two.

Sasuke heaved a large sigh. He did not enjoy waiting, especially since he had a loathing towards Kabuto. Finally, the older male finished what he was doing and approached Sasuke with a syringe in hand.

"What's that?" Sasuke asked cautiously.

"It's just something to help you heal faster. Lord Orochimaru requested that I make it and try it on you." Kabuto said with a smirk.

Sasuke was suspicious of Kabuto's leery smile but knew the punishment for refusing to oblige. The needle jabbed into his flesh and fluid pumped into his body. After the small container was empty, Kabuto spoke again. "Now you're supposed to go see Lord Orochimaru."

The boy saw that coming, but it still irked him go know the violation to come. He noticed that Kabuto almost seemed to enjoy informing Sasuke of this, which seemed strange since the medic was usually aggravated by Orochimaru's unbalanced attention.

He decided that Kabuto was just being obnoxious and discarded his suspicions. When Sasuke entered the snake's lair, the Sannin seemed more eager than usual to get on with the action. Though the elder was usually gleeful with the sight of his young body entering, he seemed to anticipate his arrival with much more excitement today.

The Uchiha did not think much of it; he figured that Orochimaru was just eager to jump on him like normal.

The Sannin rose from his seat and approached the young Uchiha. He placed a pale hand upon his pupil's shoulder. "I trust that Kabuto tended to your wounds?"

Sasuke grunted his response. "How did he heal your injuries?"

The Uchiha thought that was a strange question. "He gave me an injection."

"Good..." Orochimaru responded. He was glad to hear that his orders were followed through. "Now let's begin."

Sasuke slipped out of his clothing and waited for his teacher to do the same. Once the fabric barriers were removed from both figures, the elder make advanced towards his protege with hungry eyes. His approach was one that commonly began these sessions; Orochimaru pushed Sasuje back onto the bed and laid him down on the edge.

He then took his mouth and engulfed the boy's manhood. Since it had been years of this, Sasuke was accustomed to the touch and would never allow himself to gain pleasure from the experience. This time was difference, however.

The feel of the snake's warmth sheathing his member stimulated Sasuke beyond his normal measure. Something in his brain was making his crave more of Orochimaru's attention. He tried to will the feeling away, but his body overruled his mind and made his hips push upward to gain more delight.

The pale man reveled in Sasuke's desire for more; it was the first time in a while that the boy made his pleasure known through verbal cues. The Uchiha could not help himself. He shoved himself further into the Sannin's moist cavern. A loud moan surpassed the threshold of his lips and made Orochimaru tremble with anticipation.

After a matter of only moments, Sasuke released into the elder male's pleasurable mouth. The guilt behind the intoxicating feeling had not yet appeared from the immense bliss Sasuke was experiencing. Before the younger could come down from his sexual high, the Sannin was over top of him with his shaft slamming in.

Though the pain was still great, the pleasure Sasuke felt from the experience was greater. He did not know why, but he did not try to understand it at the moment, for he could not think clearly at the current time. Orochimaru and his young pupil groaned with pleasure in unison. The Uchiha's manhood grew firm again, and the Sannin was quick to notice the bulge pressing against his stomach. He began to toy with the younger's erection again, making his revel in every touch.

Sasuke let out husky moans between ragged breaths, but they soon stopped when the two engaged in the affair reached the moment of climax. Orochimaru moved to the side and collapsed alongside his young victim. As Sasuke came down from the second wave of pleasure, he thought over what happened. How could he have let himself go so much? It was shameful and disgusting... Then it hit him.

"What... What did you do to me?" Sasuke panted.

Orochimaru let a sick smile span across his face. "I didn't know if you were going to catch on."

Sasuke glared daggers at the man who laid next to him until he continued to speak.

"I asked Kabuto to add a little something to that injection. Have you ever heard of an aphrodisiac drug?" Orochimaru asked.

Sasuke just looked at the man; he had no idea what he was speaking of.

Orochimaru could tell that Sasuke was confused. "It induces sexual desire, and it seemed to work quite well. I don't think you have ever tried so hard to get my attention."

The Uchiha was completely repulsed. He knew that Orochimaru enjoyed their relations, but to think he would force Sasuke to want it was just disgusting.

That experience truly made him loathe his life... If he did not have someone like Itachi now, the pain and regret would only worsen...

-end flashback-

It had been a little while since Sasuke believed Itachi had fallen asleep. It was only then that he let his emotions show. He tried to keep his sobs of anguish silent, but he could not remain completely quiet.

Several more minutes passed before Sasuke felt two arms envelope him. At first, it took him off guard, but he realized that it was Itachi trying to comfort him. The upper limbs of his older brother gently locked around him and made him feel secure.

"I know you've been awake this whole time," Itachi said softly, "try to get some sleep now. It's going to be alright."

Sasuke's tears ceased to fall when his brother made him feel at ease. Only someone as gentle and loving as Itachi could soothe the younger Uchiha, and he did that quite well.

It was in that moment that Sasuke resolved to going through with Lady Tsunade's plan for sure; he had doubts about it earlier, but after witnessing his older brother's true concern once again, Sasuke knew that he must put an end to Itachi's worries.

**For those of you who have been reviewing, I would like to ask You a question. Do you enjoy about flashbacks I put in? I like to write them, and I know it's weird, but I like Oro/Sasu noncon and enjoy writing it. Should I keep putting those parts in? Thanks a bunch!**


	29. Chapter 29

**Feel free to give me suggestions in your comments! :D**

Sasuke was the first to wake up the next morning, and this gave him the chance to sneak away to see the hokage. Well, it would have given him that opportunity had Itachi not still had his arms over the younger. At the moment, Sasuekd didn't care that his movements were restricted. The feeling of his brother's limbs holding him snugly made him relax; something he could not do in years.

Instead of trying to move and risk waking up the elder, who stayed up far later than Sasuke in order to make sure he was calmed, the youngest Uchiha tried to come up with a plan to see the hokage. It wouldn't be simple; Itachi was an extremely perceptive man and could easily overpower Sasuke if necessary.

In his mind, Sasuke started to carefully think up his escape plan. He started with how to initially get around Itachi's watch; that would be the hardest part. Then, it came to him. The only time that Itachi couldn't be hovering over him was when he went to the bathroom. From there, it would be simple. Sasuke could just rush off to the hokage's office; Itachi would pursue him, but it would at least give him a chance of reaching the woman in charge. Sasuke had to admit that it wasn't a great idea, but with little time to strategize, he couldn't come up with something better.

Itachi finally woke up and realized that he had been keeping Sasuke from moving. He scooted away before looking at his brother. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I did. Thanks to you." Sasuke added, it pleased him greatly that his brother was so caring.

"Good... Well, I'm going to use the bathroom." Itachi said and got up. Sasuke wasn't planning on having to execute his plan so soon; he was still in his pajamas, but it may be his only chance for a while, so he had to take it.

As soon as the door to the restroom sealed, Sasuke bolted out the door and raced to the hokage tower. He got some strange looks since he was not properly dressed, but he just ignored them as he had far more on hit mind. He reached Taunade's office and stepped inside.

The hokage examined him. "I'm guessing that Itachi doesn't want you to be here?"

That much was obvious through his appearance. "He's probably going to come here when he sees I'm gone. We need to do this quickly."

"Right," Tsunade said recognizing their lack of time, "the best way to do this is rather simple; you need to go speak to Danzo in the Root building where no one else is around. You need to provoke him, so bring up Itachi in order to make him angered. He will most likely try to attack you. All you have to do is dodge the attacks; only use self defense. Do not take the offensive. I'll be nearby, so when he becomes violent, I can catch him and remove him from his position. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Sasuke said as he took it all in, "should I come here before going to see him?"

"Meet me here at six o'clock tonight. We will depart shortly after you arrive."

Sasuke nodded and started to hustle out of the building. He thought it was strange that Itachi hadn't come after him yet, but that feeling left when he noticed someone out of the corner of his eye. Itachi was standing directly outside of the building, waiting for his younger brother. Sasuke slowed before halting several feet in front of his brother.

"I figured there was no point in going in there, so I decided to wait for you out here." Itachi stated. "We're going back, now."

He didn't look at his younger brother as they walked. It angered him that Sasuke left, but there was nothing he could do about. Since the younger was going through a rough time, Itachi didn't want to scold him again.

The whole journey back to the apartment was awkward. Sasuke wanted to say something, but didn't know what he should say since he didn't feel that an apology was necessary. Another several hours of silence ticked by, and finally, Sasuke felt as though he had to speak.

"Are you mad at me?" He asked innocently.

Itachi thought about the question for a minute or so before answering. "No." His one word reply was not sufficient for his younger brother.

"Then why aren't you talking to me?"

Another moment of silence passed. "I'm not in the mood to speak."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke questioned further.

Itachi made eye contact with the other for the first time in a while. "Look, Sasuke, I don't know what to think. I'm trying to keep you safe, but you're acting like a fool."

"So you are mad at me?" Sasuke asked again.

"I'm not mad at you; I'm mad at the situation and disappointed in your actions." Itachi revealed.

"I don't know what you want from me; I can't let you think if me as a burden forever. I need to do this so that we can both live somewhat normal lives again." Sasuke stammered.

"You're not a burden to me; you would be a burden if I didn't care, but I have given up everything for you and won't let that go to waste."

"And I want to repay you for your suffering; if it weren't for me, this would be so much easier for you."

"You're right," Itachi said to Sasuke's shock, "but you are here, and I can't change that nor would I want to. You mean so much to me; I can't let you risk yourself for my sake."

"I've already made up my mind." Sasuke said.

"And I've made up mine." Itachi repeated his words back to him. This conflict was going to have to be resolved by six o'clock, or the plan would fail...

"What do you mean Danzo's not in the village?" Tsunade shrieked towards Shizune.

Shizune cowered before her boss. "According to all of my sources, he's not here right now."

"Well where is he?" She shouted in anger.

"I don't know! Kotetsu and Izumo said he left through the main gate early this morning. His whereabouts are currently unknown."

"Put together a team and send them out. We need to find that old creep before he does something else!" Directly after her statement, she sent Shizune out to form a tracking team.

"It's certainly been a while since I last saw you..."

"It has been," Danzo replied, "but I didn't come here to reminisce; I have a favor to ask of you."

"Why should I do anything for you?" The other male asked.

"I know you want Sasuke Uchiha... This will aid you in getting him."

**Next chapter: who is Danzo speaking with? You'll find out soon!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Yay! Chapter 30 is here! This is getting long... I hope you like it! **

"I'm not surprised that you knew I wanted him... Let us further discuss the conditions of this deal." The male before Danzo said.

"I need a way to get rid of Itachi Uchiha; his return will surely cause conflict in the village, and I cannot allow that." The village elder informed him.

"I am well aware of his return, but I don't see how your idea of bringing him back will help destroy Itachi."

"Kabuto," Danzo began, "we both know that Itachi will do anything to protect Sasuke. If you revive Orochimaru, Itachi will be preoccupied keeping him away from his brother. This will give me an ideal opportunity to erase him from the equation."

Kabuto smirked; this man would truly go to great lengths in order to ensure his idea of peace. "And when that happens what will you do?"

Danzo was well aware of Kabuto's intention of adding to world conflict, so he didn't give out too much information. "I'll give you the younger of them to do what you like. I know that Orochimaru was not the only one who wanted the Uchiha's blood."

"You're a sly man, but to obtain the sharingan, I am willing to overlook our past experiences." Kabuto said.

"There is one more condition to this deal." Danzo stated.

"What would that be?"

"You cannot harm the Hidden Leaf. I think that giving you the sharingan is enough compensation for that."

"I think we have a deal..." Kabuto agreed with a smug grin on his face. "You can return to the village; I'll go collect what I need to bring my old master back to our realm."

Six was only about fifteen minutes away, and as far as the littler Uchiha knew, the plan was still on. However, getting around his older brother would he more difficult this time.

Itachi noticed the change in Sasuke's behavior. He seemed more on edge, like he was anticipating something. Being the quick witted man he was, it wasn't hard to figure out that Sasuke was trying to figure out how to leave.

"Don't even think about it." The elder said while continuing to read through something trivial.

Sasuke was impressed that his brother picked up on his change in behavior, and though he knew Itachi figured him out, he tried to cover for himself. "I'm only fidgety because I need to use the bathroom."

"You mean so you can use the bathroom window to leave." Itachi corrected, still keeping his face down.

"That's not what I mean at all!" Sasuke shouted out his lie; was he really that transparent? No... It was just that Itachi could not be so easily deceived.

Itachi finally turned his gaze towards Sasuke. "Then you should use the bathroom."

"I will." Sasuke confirmed and walked into the smaller room. It was clear that there was no way around Itachi, so he would have to think up something else. Shadow clones? No, Itachi could see right through those... He could try to fight his brother, but that would result in failure. In the end, Sasuke decided that only one thing was possible...

He threw the door open and bolted towards the front door. Itachi casually looked up and sighed. "You don't really think that you can outrun me, do you?" Itachi called after his brother. Sasuke paid no attention to the elder's words and continued to book it through the hall.

With a head start, Sasuke thought that he may just make it to the hokage before Itachi caught him, and if so, the hokage would have many jonin restrain him. The restraints may not last for long since Itachi had recovered to his full health, but it would buy enough time for the plan to be carried out.

Before Sasuke had made it too far, Itachi could be seen closing in on him. Though Sasuke was quite fast, his pursuer's cause made him faster. Itachi leaped into the air and jumped onto Sasuke, pinning him to the ground.

"Get off! This is important!" Sasuke growled.

Itachi's eyes moved down to meet his younger brother's. "Then you should have come up with a better strategy. You should have known something this simple would fail."

Some of the people around them stared at the strange sight of Itachi sitting over Sasuke, but Itachi didn't care so long as he held Sasuke back.

"It looks like you two are getting along well." Kakashi strolled up beside them. Sasuke felt utterly humiliated when him teacher was witnessing his brother sitting on him.

Noticing the nasty look from Sasuke, Kakashi decided to look at the elder instead. "I was coming to see Sasuke on behalf of Lady Tsunade, but you were both gone when I got there. I have information regarding the plan." Kakashi said lowering his voice from the citizens walking around.

"As you can see," Itachi started, "Sasuke's not going to help with that."

"I know he's not." Kakashi stated plainly.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked as he struggled to breathe underneath his brother.

"Danzo is not in the village; we don't know where he went, but he's not here," Kakashi relayed the hokage's message, "and since this was all revolving around him, we can't do anything in his absence."

Itachi was slightly relieved until he thought about Danzo's possible location. Though he didn't know where the man might he, Itachi was well aware that this guy would go to great lengths if it meant getting his way. "Have you sent a team to find him?" Itachi asked as he moved off of Sasuke. He then reached down and pulled his brother from the ground so that he was standing again.

"We did, but nothing has come back yet... It's rather suspicious if you ask me." Kakashi noted.

"I agree..." This whole thing meant more trouble for Itachi; he would have to watch his brother even closer now that Danzo was up to suspicious activities.

"For now, Lady Tsunade just wants the both of you to lay low. We don't know what he's up to, but it could be some sort of trap to eliminate both of you." Kakashi declared; he didn't understand why Danzo would be so concerned about the eradication of the two remaining Uchiha members.

Itachi understood, though. If anything slipped out about Danzo's hand in the Uchiha Massacre, people would question him and want him out. Even though Danzo only wanted peace for the village, he had dirty ways of going about it so that it would work out in his favor.

The two brothers walked back to the apartment again. It was the second time, but before Sasuke had a chance to ask if Itachi was angry, the elder provided an answer.

"I'm not mad at you, if you were wondering." Itachi said.

Sasuke was wondering that again, but didn't admit to it. "That's good. I don't like it when you are."

"I have a feeling that something bad is bound to happen, so I want you to stay even closer to me."

"I don't think I can; we already share a bed... That's pretty close." Sasuke joked a little.

Itachi smirked but gave no verbal response. He could hope for the best, yet he had no choice but to expect the worst.


	31. Chapter 31

**To answer your question, Rosebunse, there is a tropical storm at the beach I am at, so I'm stuck inside of a condo with nothing else to do. I enjoy writing though, so it all works out. **

"Welcome back." Kabuto greeted his old master. The Sannin looked upon the younger male with slight disgust in his eyes. Kabuto literally tried to become Orochimaru; it was a bit sickening for the elder to see.

"Tell me, Kabuto, what exactly have you done to yourself?" Orochimaru asked.

"I took some of your skin and grafted it onto my own; it has given me immense powers." Kabuto smiled with pride as he spoke.

Orochimaru didn't know what to say; he thought Kabuto's actions were beyond strange, and he was an odd one himself. "I am going to take my chakra back from you."

As the elder began to walk towards Kabuto in attempt to regain his lost strength, Kabuto stepped away. He had gained so much from this; in his mind, he had surpassed Orochimaru.

"Come now, Kabuto," Orochimaru purred, "I have allowed you to become the man you are. If it were not for my generosity, you would be dead."

That struck a chord within the younger as he thought of his past involvement with root. "As you wish, my lord..." Kabuto allowed Orochimaru to place a hand upon him and restore what belonged to the Sannin. Kabuto returned to his previous appearance and felt somewhat disappointed that he was once again Orochimaru's subordinate, but this man did make him the shinobi known as Kabuto Yakushi.

Orochimaru looked around the dark cavern. "I should he thankful to this one," the Sannin gestured to Anko whom his conscious was previously sealed within, "she has allowed me to he restored to my prior state. Tell me, Kabuto, what has happened to my young protege?"

"Sasuke has returned to the leaf village; he is currently living with Itachi Uchiha." Kabuto relayed what he knew to his renewed master.

"What an interesting turn of events..." Orochimaru thought over that situation. "I believe that I will pay him a visit some time."

"That may be more difficult than it seems... I'm afraid that Itachi has been vigilantly watching over Sasuke as Danzo has been threatening them both," Kabuto stated, "in fact, it was Danzo who asked me to bring you here. He wants to kill Itachi, and he needs you to compete his plan."

"I don't trust that old man, but seeing as I can get Sasuke's body back, I suppose I will collaborate with him as I once did long ago..." Orochimaru mused.

Having his own desire for Sasuke's body, Kabuto agreed.

"I need you to being Itachi to me now!" Tsunade yelled at Naruto.

"What's the big deal?" He asked. The kid had only stopped in to ask where he could find Kakashi, but instead he was being ordered around.

"That doesn't concern you, Naruto. Just go get him. You have to make sure that Sasuke doesn't come with him, though."

"Okay, okay... I'll go tell him." Naruto sighed in frustration. Tsunade could be a real pain...

A knock on the door awoke the two brothers. Itachi decided that he would answer it and got up.

"What are you doing here? It's pretty late." Itachi said upon seeing Naruto.

"It wasn't my plan to come here, but Granny wants to see you and only you. She doesn't want Sasuke to come."

"I can't just leave him here..." Itachi looked back at Sasuke. The younger could not hear what they were saying, but he was giving Naruto a death stare for waking him up.

"I'm just telling you what she told me. If you don't want him to be alone, I can stay here with him." Naruto offered.

Itachi wasn't to sure about that, but since Danzo hadn't come back yet, it would probably be okay. "Sure... That shouldn't be a problem. If anything happens, I want you to come find me; do you understand?"

"What's with everyone ordering me around?" Naruto huffed. "Nothing's going to happen. From what I hear, Danzo's not even here, but I'll let you know if anything is up."

"Good..." Itachi was hesitant to leave, but Naruto was most likely right. Besides, Danzo wouldn't pull anything in front of the nine tails' jinchuriki. He was one of Tsunade's most trusted shinobi, after all. "I'll be back soon."

Naruto turned his attention to Sasuke who had stopped his evil glare and fallen back asleep. "How boring..." Naruto whined. He thought that he could at least get to talk to his best friend, but he didn't want to receive another dark look.

Tsunade was relieved when she saw Itachi; she wasn't overly sure that he would leave Sasuke, but this news could not make it to Sasuke's ears.

"I have some disturbing information," the slug woman began, "Anko Mitarashi has gone missing... She was searching for Kabuto Yakushi and vanished."

"What are you telling me?" Itachi asked, wondering how this could possibly have anything to do with him.

"Since receiving word on that, it has been said that Kabuto's appearance has returned to how it used to be. We don't know for certain what that means, but it is quite possible-"

"That he has brought Orochimaru back." Itachi interrupted.

"Yes... We don't have any evidence that this is true, but we have also found out that Danzo was somewhere near Kabuto's hideout. This is all related."

Itachi started to work the gears in his mind. If Orochimaru had been brought back, he would certainly be after young Sasuke. His eyes widened when he realized his mistake of leaving Sasuke with Naruto, especially while the former was sleeping.

"I have to go!" Itachi shouted and darted away.

"Wait! I need to..." But he was already gone. While he ran back, Itachi panicked. If the snake had reached his brother, it would most definitely be bad. He had to hurry!

Itachi finally made it back to the building. He ran to the door containing Sasuke's apartment and burst through. He flicked the lights on and felt his heart drop at the scene before him...


	32. Chapter 32

**This chapter contains some graphic-ish stuff **

"Wake up!" Was all the boy heard at first; he could not see not feel the hands that were desperately shaking him. "You have to wake up!"

Slowly, he opened his eyes to see bright lights illuminating Itachi's face. "What happened?" The elder Uchiha asked frantically.

It took the younger male a moment before he fully regained consciousness. "What's going on?" He asked.

"Do you know what happened?" Itachi asked again.

The teen slowly sat up from his position on the ground. He examined the room which triggered his memory to work. "... He took him..."

"Who? You have to tell me!" Itachi shouted.

"It was Orochimaru... He came and took Sasuke." Naruto said through slurred speech.

"What can you remember? Tell me anything you know." Itachi begged.

-directly after Itachi left-

Naruto was bored out of his mind since Sasuke had fallen back asleep, but then the Uchiha stirred.

"Hey, Naruto," he said groggily. The blond was happy that his friend woke up since he was so utterly bored, "turn off the light; I'm trying to sleep."

Naruto heaved a huge sigh. "Fine..." He got up and tapped the light switch down. He went back to sitting in a chair by the table; it was the one he usually sat at when visiting Sasuke. He peered over to the window and caught glimpse of two moving figures.

Though he only caught sight of them for an instance, he thought they strangely resembled Orochimaru and Kabuto. He knew that the elder was dead, and the younger hadn't been seen in months. Naruto was rather sleepy himself and believed his eyes were only playing tricks on him. Besides, it wasn't uncommon to see ninjas jumping around outside at all hours, so it was probably just two that resembled that duo.

Shortly after that, there was a knock on the door. Naruto thought that it was too soon for Itachi to have returned, but it wasn't impossible for him to be back; he was concerned for Sasuke after all. It could also be Kakashi or Sakura since Sasuke was supposed to be heavily guarded.

Not wanting to answer the door at Sasuke's home, the boy woke up his slumbering friend. "Sasuke, hey. Hey, Sasuke."

The menacing look returned to his face when Naruto continued to rouse him. "Shut up already..."

"There's someone at the door; Sasuke, hey, did you hear me?" Naruto kept persisting.

"Just go answer it." Sasuke said as he buried his head in bedding.

"Don't you think it will look weird if I answer the door and the lights are off and you're in bed and this is your house and-"

"Fine! I'll answer it, you idiot." Sasuke said. He got up and shuffled his exhausted body to the entryway. He undid the locks and opened the door...

"Hello, Sasuke. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Orochimaru hissed only inches from his face. His body was paralyzed with fear at the sight and sound of his former captor. The younger male at the Sannin's side removed an all too familiar object from his pouch: a syringe filled with the liquid he used to knock the Uchiha out many times.

He jabbed Sasuke in the side with the needle. Seconds passed before the boy fell to the ground, completely unable to move. Naruto jumped to his friend's aid, but he was also stabbed with the injection. He fell hard onto the firm floor and could only watch as Orochimaru and Kabuto toted their victim away.

It was only moments later that Naruto's world was engulfed in darkness. His senses began to fail as the drug knocked him out. The next thing he was aware of was Itachi violently trying to awaken him.

-present time-

"They knocked on the door..." Naruto's voice was becoming clearer once again. "Sasuke froze when he saw then, but by the time I reacted, it was too late. They got us both with some drug and we passed out. The last thing I saw was the door closing after Orochimaru picked up Sasuke..."

Itachi was completely horrified. How could he have been so naive? This was completely his fault; had he not been so foolish, Sasuke would be fine. "Damn it!" He screamed in fury. He tried to calm himself, for he had to retrieve his brother. He looked down at the equally enraged Naruto. "Come on; we have to tell Lady Tsunade and go after my brother!"

The dosage used on Sasuke was much, much higher than that given to Naruto, so the dark haired teen was still out of it and completely unable to move.

When he finally began to regain consciousness, he had forgotten about the incident. All he knew at the moment was that his head throbbed. He groaned at the pain but had no sense of anything else.

The next thing he realized was that he was cold, very cold. The surface he was laying upon was icy to the touch, and his body was completely exposed to the chilling ground. There was an intense heat all of the sudden on his side; it sent his mind into shock, but his whole body felt lethargic and did not respond.

The burning sensation roamed up his body; it felt familiar, but in his dazed state, he thought little of the movement.

"Shall we have some fun?" That was the first thing he heard since awakening. The voice that spoke was one Sasuke would recognize a million years from now: it was Orochimaru.

Sasuke's mind begged him to move away, begged him to respond in any physical way, but his body remained still due to the drug Kabuto had given him. His other senses suddenly rushed back, but his muscles would not give him enough strength to move even an inch.

"Come on, Sasuke. Why don't we get to the exciting part?" Orochimaru taunted. To Sasuke's horror, the elder male grabbed the younger's shaft and began to toy with it. It was a sensation he never wanted to feel from this man again.

"How are you here?" Sasuke managed to say. Between the effects of the medicine and Orochimaru attempting to give him foul pleasure, it was difficult for the boy to speak.

"After you absorbed me, I thought I would get the chance to take over this delicious young body, but then your older brother sealed me away. Thankfully, the cursed seal on your chunin exam proctor allowed me to live on." He continued to watch the boy's expression turn to deeper anguish with each pump of his hand.

Once the poor Uchiha was stimulated enough to have his member stand on its own, Orochimaru stopped his work. The throbbing in his unattended groin joined the throbbing in Sasuke's head... He could not believe what was happening.

"This drug Kabuto made will make you extremely weak for a good while, which means I will be able to have even more fun with you," Orochimaru grinned towards his lame victim, "though I must admit watching you struggle under me is quite amusing."

The pain and anticipation made Sasuke extremely anxious. He couldn't bare to wait for something to happen; the thoughts of possible actions was beginning to drive him mad.

His member twitched from Orochimaru's previous touches, but the elder male refused to give him the release his body was begging for, and Sasuke could not help himself since he was still unable to move.

Orochimaru came closer to his former pupil and lifted him off the ground so their faces were only inches apart. "What do you suggest we start with, Sasuke? For trying to get rid of me, I think you deserve a little more tonight."

Sasuke felt utterly horrible. He couldn't do anything to push his captor away; he couldn't even say anything in defense from that Orochimaru would torture him more. The Sannin finally made his decision with how things would go; he slid Sasuke back down and mashed his limp body into the wall.

"I know you can't move, but that won't get in the way if this." Orochimaru said and pried Sasuke's jaw open. The Sannin's member infiltrated the boy's mouth; Orochimaru began to pound mercilessly into Sasuke. The young Uchiha's head repeatedly slammed into the wall behind him, making the headache stronger with each thrust. The elder male quickly got hard as he watched his shaft shove down Sasuke's throat over and over.

The man proceeded to take Sasuke by the throat and slide him against the rough wall so that he was face to face with him. Orochimaru decided to do something he rarely did to the boy; he reached his pale hand around Sasuke's rear and forced two of his fingers up into the Uchiha's warmth. This caused the battered pupil to gasp in agony, which only provoked the snake into doing more.

Orochimaru used his weight to keep Sasuke pinned to the wall so he had two free hands; one was used to keep himself stimulated and the other was to stretch Sasuke's tight entrance which hadn't been used in months. The wriggling fingers inside of Sasuke made him want to vomit as he was not used to such an intrusion, but he knew that those appendages were minuscule compared to the next object to enter.

The muscles inside if Sasuke contracted around Orochimaru, making him eager to place something else inside. He wanted to spin the teen around and impale his throbbing shaft in to gain pleasure, but the longer he waited, the more ecstasy he would be granted. After feeling Sasuke's tightness for several more minutes, the snake could not bare another moment of anticipation.

He quickly whirled the floppy boy around and sheathed his entire member in the first movement. The dry friction made Sasuke shout out in pain; he had forgotten how horrid that feeling truly was.

Orochimaru continued to thrust his hips towards Sasuke, causing his flaccid body to buck along. Time went by so slowly as Sasuke endured Orochimaru's "fun" as he called it.

Finally, relief came for both people. Orochimaru reached his orgasm, and Sasuke knew this meant the end for now. The long organ slipped out of the young figure; along with it came a mixture of fluids that spilled down onto the floor and the back of Sasuke's thighs. The Sannin, finally satisfied with his work, released the younger from his grasp. With only little energy, the boy flopped onto the floor again.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself... That reminds me, I never did allow you to release your own load," Orochimaru noted, "Kabuto has taken an interest in you, though. Perhaps he will help you with that when he comes to collect you."

Those words rang in Sasuke's head long after the snake had slithered away. Orochimaru was bad enough; Sasuke could not handle another man's touches. That would drive him completely insane.

The Uchiha tried to get up and flee, but he only managed to make it on his knees before collapsing again; damn that stupid drug! "You're not going to be able to have the stamina to walk for a little longer. Try to be patient," Kabuto said from the door way, "I forgot... You can't be patient."

Sasuke mustered up his darkest glare and focused it on the medic who was unfazed by the action. "You can stare at me all you want; it won't help you here, though."

Kabuto usually came to get Sasuke back to his room; he would then heal his injuries from Orochimaru's abuse before leaving the kid alone, but today was different. Today was something completely different...

"Lord Orochimaru told me that you were unable to relieve the throbbing in your groin. Would you like my help with that?" Kabuto asked menacingly.

"Don't you dare touch me!" Sasuke barked.

"What could you possibly do about it?" Kabuto burst into a fit of laughter. The medic had wanted to degrade Sasuke for so long, but until now he never attempted such a thing. That was about to change, though.

Kabuto took a step in Sasuke's direction. Unfortunately, the drug had only worn off enough to allow the kid to wriggle hopelessly across the floor. Kabuto looked at his exposed, squirming prey. "Don't worry, you little brat. I have no intention of putting myself inside of you."

His words made Sasuke shiver; if not that, what was Kabuto planning? The silver haired man advanced towards the boy again, making him quiver with more fear. He positioned Sasuke on the ground so that he was laying flag on his back.

The elder kneeled down and crushed Sasuke's hips into the concrete below so that he couldn't move at all. He moved his head down to Sasuke's weeping manhood and used his tongue to lick at the tip. Though his tongue was not as pleasurable as the Sannin's, it still stimulated a response from the Uchiha.

It pleased Kabuto greatly that he could degrade Sasuke in such an unsightly manner. The older male's lips slipped over the width of his younger partner, completely enclosing the shaft in his mouth.

He worked the length up and down with his tongue and lips, making sure to get the boy hard. Once Sasuke reached hat stage, Kabuto used a single hand to complete a few rough jerks which made the Uchiha explode. The way Kabuto went about it was not the most pleasant feeling, but being able to release gave Sasuke the relief he needed. Kabuto rose from his kneeling position to examine the body before him.

"I can see why Lord Orochimaru enjoys you so much; you really are nice looking, and you are still so sensitive." He chuckled at how simple it was for Sasuke to climax. The shame of having not only one, but two sexual assaulters was humiliating for the youngest. He could only hope that he could endure the strife until his big brother came to his rescue.


	33. Chapter 33

**Hello :) here's the next chapter; sorry I took a little longer updating than I have been, but the website was giving me error messages when I tried to update...**

Tsunade's eyes grew huge as Naruto and Itachi frantically tried to explain what happened.

"You need to collect yourselves!" Tsunade shouted over the two males. "With both of you trying to tell me what happened, I can't understand anything."

Naruto was the first one to speak after an awkward moment of silence. He gave her the same spiel he gave Itachi only minutes prior.

"It seems that for some reason, Danzo and Kabuto brought him back." Itachi then stated.

"It does appear that way, but we can't jump to conclusions..." Tsunade responded.

"I'm not jumping to conclusions: you told me Danzo was seen near Kabuto's location, Anko has gone missing, and now Sasuke has been abducted by Orochimaru. Clearly none of that is related." Itachi hissed.

"I know you're upset, but try to remain calm. Acting hastily will do is no good." Tsunade declared; that was easy for her to say since it was not her sibling that had been taken by a Sannin that sexually assaulted his students.

"I'm going to find my brother." Itachi claimed suddenly.

"Don't be hasty." The hokage reiterated. With several people after the last of the Uchiha, it would be bad for both of them to be at unknown locations.

"What do you expect me to do?" Itachi exclaimed. "I can't wait for you to strategize while I know what that creature is doing to my brother."

Both Naruto and Tsunade were aware of his reference. Naruto had witnessed it himself, and the slug queen found out from Kakashi's report.

"I want to get him out of there as much as you do, but I don't think charging in there is the best plan. If Danzo was truly behind this, he is probably anticipating that." Tsunade said.

Itachi glared towards the ground. "I won't do anything for twenty four hours, but if you don't come up with something by then, I'm going to do it by myself."

"I'll do my best." Tsunade said before allowing the two shinobi to leave.

"I have another dose of medicine to give you," Kabuto said as he entered the chamber containing Sasuke, "after all, we don't want you to move all that much."

Sasuke weakly moved his head up to see Kabuto advancing towards him. The ability to control his limbs hadn't returned to him, and the syringe the medic was holding would ensure the continuation of that. He felt a needle slide into his upper thigh and force liquid into his blood steam. Any feeling he had regained in his limbs slipped away and his head grew too heavy for his neck to support.

The boy sunk from his sitting position against the wall down to a crumpled heap on the floor. "You know, for a stupid little brat, I have to admit that I had fun with you last night. How do you feel about going a little farther?" Kabuto asked as he squatted down before Sasuke.

A blank expression was the only response generated by Sasuke. There was nothing he could do to stop Kabuto or Orochimaru, so why should he even attempt to provide any sort of reaction?

"Come on, Sasuke, you're normally so feisty." Kabuto snickered and pulled Sasuke by his neck back into a sitting position. The only action Sasuke supplied was avoiding eye contact with the twisted man.

It slightly irritated Kabuto that his victim refused to do anything; he wanted the boy to plead with him. That would make this so much more enjoyable. To try to elicit a response, Kabuto used a hand to touch Sasuke's exposed shaft. His efforts were to no avail; Sasuke just continued to act like a rag doll.

"Seems like he's not all that into it." Orochimaru's amused voice came from behind. It shocked Kabtuo and he pulled away from his prey.

The sight of Kabuto nearly falling over made Sasuke smirk a bit; it was the only amusing thing he had seen in some time. His reaction caught Kabuto's attention and aggravated him, but he decided to answer his lord before anything else.

"I apologize, Lord Orochimaru; I didn't know you were there."

"There's no need for that, Kabuto, but you will have to wait your turn because I would like this boy at the moment." Orochimaru said,

Shifting his focus to the limp being behind the medic.

"Yes." Kabuto said and rose to his feet. As he started towards the exit, Orochimaru put up a hand to halt him.

"On second thought," the snake mused, "why don't we both enjoy his company?" The words that slithered out of the man's mouth horrified Sasuke. Having Orochimaru, and now Kabuto, tormenting his body was enough to make his stomach churn, but having two cruel men messing with his body at the same time would be pure hell.

Orochimaru continued to look at the kid slumped before him. "What do you think about that, Sasuke?" He taunted; it was clear to all three that Sasuke was petrified at the thought. His eyes clearly showed the fear, but he tried to remain collected on the outside.

"I..." Sasuke tried to form a sentence but couldn't get words to come out. It didn't matter, anyway. No matter what he said, the two men standing over him would get their wish.

"It's appears that you have no objections, my boy. In that case, we shall begin." Orochimaru cackled and approached Sasuke. He pulled the frightened teen across the floor so he was laying on his back.

Kabuto, following Orochimaru's lead, began to remove his attire. Once all three men were completely exposed, the two elder males moved to where Sasuke's head was plopped. Sasuke let his eyelids close when both shafts thrust towards his mouth simultaneously. The thickness of both organs made the corners of his mouth painfully stretch, and Sasuke could only hope that they would not try this on the other end of his figure as well.

The friction of Kabuto's length against his masters drove him wilder than the feeling of slipping in and out of the Uchiha's mouth. Orochimaru, on the other hand, paid no attention to giving his medic any pleasure; he was only fixated on getting his own twisted ecstasy from invading Sasuke.

Once Orochimaru's larger member was solid, he gave out an order. "I'm taking his backside; you can do whatever you please with the other parts of him."

Losing the contact of Orochimaru dispirited Kabuto, and it made him outraged that the elder male disregarded him for the Uchiha... He decided that Sasuke would have to pay for that.

Orochimaru had shifted Sasuke's limp body around so that his hips were in the air and his face was smashed against the ground. The hardness of the floor made Sasuke's face ache. The pain only got worse when the Sannin jammed his member into his rear, which caused his head to scrape across the rough ground. He suppressed the scream that tried to surface, but a light whimper managed to escape.

While his backside was being thrusted into, his torso and head were lifted off the ground. And though it relieved his face from being wounded further, it caused his mouth to be invaded again. Kabuto had slid under the boy and forced Sasuke's face over his erection. Though it was somewhat awkward since Sasuke could barely lift himself up, Kabuto was satisfied since he was going to gain the prize he wanted.

While the Uchiha was choking on the medic's arousal and being repeatedly pounded by Orochimaru's, Kabuto got to work on Sasuke's flaccid member, which hung down from the position Orochimaru forced him in.

Kabuto knew that Sasuke hated being pleasured by his offender more than anything from all the times he happened to watch Orochimaru with the boy; there was no pain, so it should have been bearable for Sasuke, but the horrible guilt that came with being pleased forcibly by another man was far too great. In his fit of jealousy, Kabuto saw that as a lovely way to exact his revenge.

The level of pleasure and pain continued to rise for the Uchiha; his rear end felt worse than it ever had before, and to accompany that, he was being gagged by the medic's thrusts. He absolutely forbade himself from making any noise, though. He didn't want to give his tormentors the satisfaction his cries would provide.

Sasuke was finally nearing his release, but Kabuto suddenly cut off his movements. The same throbbing Orochimaru had left him with returned when Kabuto moved his head away from Sasuke's arousal. However, he continued to slide his own erection into the younger's mouth.

Kabuto used his now free hands to aid Sasuke's head in pleasing himself. Since the Uchiha was still limp, he was unable to really do anything to delight the medic, though he wouldn't have given him anything if it was possible. With the help of his own limbs, Kabuto was finally able to climax.

The fluid from Kabuto's now shrinking shaft spurted into Sasuke's mouth, making it difficult to breathe. Seconds later, he felt the same fluid from the other man drip out of his backside. As soon as Kabuto removed his body from underneath Sasuke, Orochimaru dropped the boy's waist.

The sound of Sasuke's body hitting the floor made a defined smack. Orochimaru looked over his work with a sickly grin spread on his face. "I certainly have missed this, dear Sasuke. Being sealed inside of someone else doesn't allow you to have this kind of enjoyment."

The boy laid on the cold ground with his usual emotionless face. His muscles gained some strength back, but his head told him to stay down to avoid a possible continuation of events.

"If you will excuse us, Kabuto," the snake hissed, "I would like a little time alone with this child."

"Yes sir." Kabuto said bitterly; he collected the clothes he discarded left the room.

The Sannin walked around to the front of Sasuke. The Uchiha's gaze didn't move from its spot on the wall. "Before I speak you about the subject on my mind," Orochimaru said with his eyes locked on the younger's enlarged organ, "let's take care of this."

The serpentine tongue that Sasuke hated slithered down to his still member and worked it until it was able to relax again. The Uchiha tended the muscles in his body to try and avoid making sounds of pleasure, but Orochimaru was talented with that oversized thing, so Sasuke could not bite back a small moan of delight from arising.

Once that was "out of the way," Orochimaru gave an order to the boy. "Get up." Sasuke let his eyes drift over to view the snake's face. Get up? His body had not recovered enough to move that much.

"Come on, Sasuke. Get off of the floor." Orochimaru repeated with a serious expression. Though he knew he couldn't, the poor kid tried to raise himself off of the floor. He managed to push himself onto his knees, but his limbs gave out and he fell back down. The snake watched him unamused.

"I can't..." Sasuke whimpered after crashing to the floor on his second attempt.

"That's exactly what I want to talk about; having you in such a state is rather ridiculous. Don't you agree?"

Sasuke was puzzled. Was he actually supposed to answer that? Of course he found it ridiculous... And awful and a whole bunch of other things.

"The thing is, having you like a limp noodle is not all that enjoyable for me. You can't support your own weight, so I have to hold you up."

"I don't know what you're getting at." Sasuke responded. The whole thing was no different to him; he still got violated by the man, and now his minion decided to join in.

"I'm saying that I don't enjoy holding you up; it was much better when you could move by yourself: it was much more enjoyable for me," Orohimaru stated blatantly; of course it had something to do with his personal pleasure, "I don't want to keep drugging you, but if I stop, you might pull something. You could try to take me down when my body weakens again, or perhaps you would run back to your brother."

Sasuke's face finally changed to show surprise. This man had been dead; how could he know about Itachi?

Orochimaru caught his confusion. "I took my chakra back from Kabuto, and I also gathered the intelligence he had. I can't say that I blame you for seeking his protection. Your brother is quite a powerful shinobi."

"That's not-"

"He obviously didn't care about you the same, though. Would he really have left you open for this if he did?" Orochimaru asked. "Don't you think he would have come to get you if he cared?"

Sasuke was speechless. Why hadn't Itachi come? The man told him he would always be there for Sasuke, but he said that the first time, too...

Orochimaru was certain that Itachi hadn't come for a different reason; from Kabuto's information, Itachi did everything for Sasuke. However, breeding mistrust between the Sasuke and his brother would hopefully keep the Sannin safer. He knew that when Itachi decided to act, it would be the end of him unless he could make Sasuke's resentment return.

"Back to the other matter," Orochimaru started, "I don't know what to do with you... Having you like this is pointless; I suppose I could have Kabuto chain you down... I think we'll give that a try."

Orochimaru left the boy with a flurry of thoughts swirling in his mind. He walked down the corridor to find the medic. Once he did, he relayed the new information.

"I want you to go ahead and chain him."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto replied, "may I ask how the other plan went?"

"You mean causing him to lose faith in Itachi? I believe it will take time, but he is still tamable at this point."

"I see... And perhaps we can get Danzo before he acts against us."

It was not unknown to either that the cunning old man's plan was to take out both of them through Itachi. He had never planned to let them obtain the sharingan, but rather to have Itachi kill them and then take both Uchiha brothers out when they were weak... Having been previous members of the foundation, both Kabuto and Orochimaru could see right through that fickle elder.

**This chapter was pretty long... Hahahaha :) review if you would like to **


	34. Chapter 34

**So I'm trying to come up with what should happen next... After you read this chapter, please give me some suggestions if you have any ideas :) I have the basic idea of what will happen next, but I would like some input as well :D**

Itachi was sitting alone in his younger brother's apartment. His thoughts of what Sasuke could be going through were driving him mad; luckily, a knock on the door broke his train of thought.

He opened the door, hoping it would be someone with good news or a plan or something productive, but it was not. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

"I'm going to make you a proposal, Itachi." Danzo said from the other side of the threshold. Itachi seriously considered slaughtering the man on the spot, but decided against it so he could hear him out.

"I should probably kill you right now for everything you have done, but that would do me no good. It would only make things worse." Itachi growled.

"You have that much correct," Danzo agreed, "I didn't come here to receive threats, though. You see, I happen to know where your brother is. What would you be willing to do in exchange for that information?"

Itachi was extremely suspicious of this. "I suppose that would all depend on what you want me to do." The truth was that he would be willing to do anything for it, but obtaining it from Danzo would probably prove to be a mistake

"It is needless to say that I want you to take care of Kabuto and Orochimaru. However, I also want you to stay out of this village. All you will do is cause further conflict."

"And what about Sasuke?" Itachi further inquired.

"I will allow him to stay here."

Itachi thought over this whole thing. He already knew that Danzo was probably going to try to kill him after he beat Orochimaru and Kabuto down, but that was of lesser concern. Sasuke would surely not come back to the village without Itachi, and Danzo's actions already made Sasuke seek revenge once; that would surely happen again. And with that bound to happen, Danzo would definitely take Sasuke out of the equation.

"If you deny this offer, you know that Sasuke will only go through more suffering. Those two men are probably doing atrocious things to your little brother. Could you live with yourself knowing that you could have helped him sooner had you accepted my offer?" Danzo asked.

"You certainly did set all of this up well," Itachi sighed after confirming his suspicions about Danzo's plot, "but I'm not so foolish as to fall into your trap. I know very well what you plan on doing to both Sasuke and I, and I'm not going to allow that. Try to pressure me all you want, but I am going to get my brother back without your 'help.' If you so much as try to stop me, I won't allow you to live." The look in the Uchiha's eyes became menacing. The man himself did not appear to be overly intimidating, but when the situation called for it, he could strike fear in nearly anyone.

"I found out quite a bit of information today. For starters, Danzo was behind this whole thing." Itachi informed the hokage, along with Kakashi and his team.

"How could you have found that out?" Kakashi asked; as far as he knew, Danzo was still outside of the village.

"He came to offer me a deal today; he said that if I agree to kill Kabuto and Orochimaru, he would tell me where Sasuke is."

"That old man sure does like to manipulate people... What did you say?" Tsunade then asked.

"I told him that if I'm not so stupid as to believe he wouldn't pull something after all of that, and if he tried to stop my plans of retrieving Sasuke, I would kill him."

"You said that to him?" Tsunade shouted. "You're still a criminal as far as most people are concerned. You can't just say that to anyone!"

"But he's not just anyone, and there was no one else present."

"Well, we're going to have to do something extremely fast now that this has happened." Kakashi said; that was apparent to everyone in the room, though. Now that things had escalated to an even higher level, something would have to be done right away.

"So Granny, what's the plan?" Naruto asked.

"To be honest," she said sheepishly, "I haven't come up with one yet. I've been trying to, but with this new information, I'll have to rethink it a little bit."

"It seems that we don't really have time to rethink it; not after what happened earlier today." Itachi told her.

"He's right; especially considering who Sasuke's with..." Sakura finally spoke; her words brought back memories to the other people who witnessed the horror of what went on between Sasuke and the snake.

"I can't just let you all blindly run after him; I know that he's important to all of you, but considering the circumstances, that would be much too dangerous."

"I don't mean to say you're wrong, Granny, but you're wrong..." Naruto began, "but most of the plans we've come up with end up falling apart."

"That's true," Sai joined in, "though I haven't gone on many missions with this team, things usually don't work out the way we intend."

"Yeah, I mean, when I just charge in recklessly, something good usually happens. I think we should just start off with that this time." Naruto added.

"But maybe it only works when you ruin the plan; you usually foil everything half way through, so it might not turn out well if you just start out that way." Sakura mused.

"That could be true... Okay, then let's make a plan that we know is too hard to pull off. That way it should work, right?" Naruto asked.

"Would you stop it?" Tsunade shouted. "All three of you are being ridiculous! This is a serious problem; we don't have time for jokes!"

"Who said we were joking?" Naruto mumbled. The other younger members of the group agreed but kept their silence.

"If we don't come up with a plan in the next six hours, I think they might be right." Itachi said.

"You should know more than anyone that this isn't the kind of thing we can chance like that." Kakashi declared.

"I do know that, but I can't just stand around. I'll do this alone if you don't agree, and I'll accept any consequences you wish to give me for disobeying the hokage's orders." Itachi claimed, and though they all knew he would do it, he didn't want to since that was the mistake that lead to the current situation: trying to take care of everything by himself was the cause to all of Sasuke's suffering.

All eyes were on him when Tsunade spoke again. "I know that you above everyone wants to get him away from Orochimaru, but I can't let you leave without some sort of strategy."

"I'm aware that everyone knows what happened to Sasuke," Itachi stated, "and most of Team Kakashi even saw my brother right after one of the occurrences, but you're not aware of how it still affects him. In front of you, he acts like nothing happened, but that all changes when he's just around me. Sasuke breaks down almost every night, so there is no way I'm waiting until you come up with a 'perfect' plan that will most likely fail anyway."

Everyone looked at Itachi with some level of disbelief on his or her face. Sasuke was always so collected, he rarely showed emotion, and when he did it was usually only anger or a form of irritation.

"I'm with him!" Naruto exclaimed. "We all know that it's risky, but we are shinobi. Everything we do is a risk."

It wasn't unexpected for Naruto to say something like that, but it produced a change of heart for Tsunade. "You have a point there... I suppose you were all going to act in just a few hours anyway, so instead of thinking up a strategy, I'm going to have you use this time to get started."

"Alright! We aren't going to fail getting him back this time!" Naruto shouted.

"This is reckless..." Kakashi sighed, "but you three did have a point earlier; Naruto's idiocy often proves beneficial to us."

Itachi didn't know what obstacles they were going to face in finding and bringing back young Sasuke, but he was determined to get him, even though they had no idea how to go about it.

"It's settled then," Tsunade declared, "Team Kakashi and Itachi Uchiha are to retrieve Sasuke immediately. I officially authorize the start of this mission!"


	35. Chapter 35

**Thanks for the suggestions :) I can't tell you what I decided since I don't want to ruin anything for you**

Daylight was beginning to recede beyond the horizon, but the darkness did not deter the five Leaf shinobi. It had been decided amongst the group that they should stay together since there were several treacherous individuals to be encountered along the way.

"I think that we should probably set up a camp sight," Kakashi said after a few more hours of searching, "we're going to need as much energy as we can muster up, so it is imperative that we rest."

"We don't have time for rest!" Naruto protested.

"I agree with that; we've only been at this for a few hours." Sakura added. There was no way she was going to waste time getting to her precious Sasuke.

Kakashi sighed. "It's better to search during the day time. At night, we could easily overlook something."

"But we can't let Sasuke stay there any longer than he already has!" Naruto shouted back.

"I'm the leader for this mission, and I have decided that we need to wait until dawn." The jonin stated firmly.

"Fine... Whatever..." Naruto hissed and sat down.

Most of the people in the group were sleeping by now, but Itachi was still awake. He couldn't slumber when he knew Sasuke was probably going through hell at that very moment. He blamed himself for all of this; he should have been more careful or taken extra precautions. In his mind, it was his lack of vigilance that caused Sasuke to be back with that snake.

It would be difficult to find Sasuke, though. Itachi knew that it would take too much time if he tried to do it alone, so he had to depend upon Kakashi's ninja hounds. It would still be a challenge with those dogs, though. Twenty seven hours had passed since the younger Uchiha had been taken, so the trace would certainly be weak. That was the only lead they could follow though, so the elder brother of Sasuke would have to be patient.

The other Uchiha sat against a rough wall. Thankfully, neither of his captors had been to visit him since Kabuto chained him down. Though it had been hours since Sasuke had seen another person, the words Orochimaru spoke about his brother continued to dance in his mind.

It had only been a day, but wouldn't the elder Uchiha have done something by then since he knew what Sasuke was forced to endure? Then again, Itachi had nothing to gain from protecting Sasuke except the closeness two brothers should share... Unless he was trying to make Sasuke drop his guard so Itachi could steal his eyes. But what about everything that Madara had told him... That could have all been a lie to make Sasuke attack the village, though. There were so many things that could be true, and they all swirled around aimlessly in Sasuke's brain.

"I can't let myself doubt him..." Sasuke mumbled to himself. From the past few weeks, he saw that Itachi was the same, gentle older brother he remembered. If anyone truly cared about him, it was Itachi. Still, the different things he had experienced over the years took a large toll on his ability to trust. "I don't know what to think anymore..." He sighed.

"About what?" Kabuto asked as he approached the restrained boy.

Sasuke glared his response; he had nothing to gain by talking to this wretch. "What do you want?"

"I came here to give you some food; that's all," Kabuto sneered down at Sasuke, "but we could make this into more if you'd like."

"You better not touch me." Sasuke huffed.

"I thought we already went through this. You can't do anything to me while you're like that, and the more you try to fight it, the more I want it." Kabuto revealed his distorted way of thinking.

His creepy statement made Sasuke involuntarily cringe away. Unfortunately for him, the shackles around his wrists held him in place for the medic to assault him. The silver haired man started to move forth, but he was stopped by a voice from the door way.

"Now, Kabuto," Orochimaru began, "I know you want to enjoy him as I have, but you must give the boy some time in between to heal. For now, just leave him with the food you brought."

Kabuto was irritated that he could not torment the Uchiha, but obeyed his master. He set the food down before Sasuke and left, but Orochimaru still lingered nearby.

Sasuke ignored the older male and tried to eat, but the nasty medic places the food just out of his reach. He pulled on the chains with all of his might, but he could not reach the meal in front of him.

"You and Kabuto never did get along too well," Orochimaru snickered and pushed the bowl closer to his pupil, "now eat up; I don't want you starving on me."

"What do you care? You only want me so that you can relieve your disgusting desires." Sasuke never would have said something like that to Orochimaru in the past, but since things could not get worse, he figured verbally abusing the snake would make him feel a little better.

"That's not true, my boy. I still want your body for my own; it won't work if you're just a sack of skin and bones," Orochimaru watched as Sasuke don't make a move towards the food, "you seemed so eager to fill your stomach mere seconds ago."

Sasuke stared daggers at Orochimaru. "If you want me to eat so you can have your way, then I'm not going to touch a single morsel."

Orochimaru was getting frustrated. "You can either fill your mouth with that or with me. I'm feeling generous enough to let you pick today."

Sasuke thought the Sannin's words were completely repulsive, but they made sense. Orochimaru wanted to keep Sasuke in his place, yet he also needed him to be strong enough for the body transference. Either choice would lead to a decent result for the snake, but only one would allow Sasuke to remain untouched for a while longer.

The kid reluctantly started consuming the ration provided. It didn't take overly delicious, but that was to be expected since he was basically the equivalent of a prisoner, though he did serve an important purpose. As he ate, Orochimaru continued to hang around in the small room. Sasuke wanted to shoo him out, but that would probably do nothing.

When he finished the rather disgusting meal, Orochimaru revealed why he remained in the room by undressing himself. Poor Sasuke had no choice but to oblige due to the restraints holding him down.

Orochimaru unlocked the cuffs so that Sasuke had a free range of motion. Doing so allowed Sasuke the opportunity to strike, and since he really had nothing to lose, he attempted to do so. The Sannin was displeased with the boy's action, but simply ceased his arm as he used to.

Sasuke grunted but couldn't do anything else. "You seem to have gotten your fighting spirit back."

The boy didn't answer; he saw no point in giving a response since the interaction was futile no matter what he did...

After the short affair was over, Orochimaru bound the broken boy again. He leaned in close to Sasuke. "It's such a s shame for you that Itachi doesn't seem to care."

These words only reinforced the Uchiha's doubt.


	36. Chapter 36

**Thanks for the reviews from my two loyal reviewers :) both of you have made this so much more fun to write! **

Day break didn't come fast enough for Itachi; he wanted to get his brother back from that cruel Sannin and his medical minion. Kakashi was the first to wake up of the group, considering Itachi had never fallen into slumber.

"You're up early," the jonin said, "but judging from the looks of this, you didn't get any sleep."

"That's right." Itachi muttered back. "How could I let myself rest when I know that Sasuke can't?"

"This will hopefully be the last sleepless night; we'll find him today." Kakashi assured the elder brother. He turned towards the sleeping teens and proceeded to wake them.

"We better get started! We're going to find Sasuke for sure today!" Naruto said enthusiastically, providing positive emotions for both Sakura and Kakashi.

"How can you stay so positive when the chances are so slim?" Sai asked.

"You really piss me off..." Naruto grumbled.

"I simply don't understand." Sai responded.

"I didn't ask you, and you don't understand anything!" Naruto hollered.

"Okay, Naruto, fighting won't help." Sakura calmed the blond. Sai was probably right since the odds were heavily against them, but there was no way negative thoughts would deter them.

After summoning his most loyal hound, Pakkun, Kakashi set instructions for the search. "Okay, so we do have the whereabouts of Kabuto's previous location, but I highly doubt that he is still there. Neither Orochimaru nor Kabuto is naive enough to trust Danzo, especially since both worked under him at one time, so I'm betting that they relocated to avoid him as well as us.

"We should have Pakkun pick up on his scent; he should be able to follow it no matter where the three of them went. That will save time from randomly wandering around." Kakashi decided.

"It's not that simple," the dog said in his gruff voice, "it's been almost two days since the kid's been gone; I won't be able to sniff him out that fast."

"It looks like we will have to do some more random wandering until Pakkun can sense him." Sai said.

"If we go to Kabuto's old hideout, Pakkun could follow his scent to their new location; that would allow us to make sure Sasuke's not at that place, too." Itachi strategized.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Naruto agreed, his example was followed by the rest of team seven as they also obliged.

As soon as the strategy was finalized, the five shinobi dashed away in the direction of Kabuto's last known location.

It took slightly over two hours to arrive at the destination; immediately, Pakkun caught traces of two people.

"Sasuke was never here," he informed everyone, "but Orochimaru and Kabuto were at some point in he last few days."

"So this is where Kabuto brought Orochimaru back..." Itachi mused.

"Seems that way," Kakashi said, "Pakkun, can you follow the traces?"

"They are faint, but I think I can manage to track them down." He responded as he sniffed the air. "We better hurry, though. I can barely smell it, and it will only fade more."

Once again, the five ninjas lead by Pakkun rushed off. With a solid lead, Sasuke was only at arms length, waiting to be pulled closer.

**Sorry about the shorter chapter, but there wasn't much I could write about their search without repeating what I already wrote**.


	37. Chapter 37

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Orochimaru asked as he began to touch the boy with his pale fingers. "You're not going to try to fight me off this time?"

The Uchiha didn't answer; he saw no point. He could give some smart answer or try to hit the man, but it wouldn't do anything to benefit him. It might even provoke the snake to violate him longer.

"I asked you a question." The Sannin breathed.

Sasuke stared angrily at Orochimaru but gave no other response.

"You should answer when asked a question." Orochimaru claimed. "You're being rather rude."

Sasuke swallowed his pride and answered the man. "There's no point in it..." He muttered.

"That never stopped you before," Orochimaru said, "having you act like this is the same as drugging you; it's rather boring."

That wasn't a question, so the boy returned to his silent suffering. Before another moment passed, Sasuke was pulled up onto his knees and impaled by the man's member. It felt no worse than normal but still caused the wounded flesh within to tear and bleed.

Sasuke let a nearly silent whine pass through his lips; the pain he went through from this was terrible. He had deluded himself into believing the feeling wasn't as bad during his time away from Orochimaru, but this proved that it was truly awful.

The Uchiha grunted in agony again; the sound pleased the elder male. It made it clear that he had power over the boy.

Once his liquid spilled into Sasuke, Orochimaru pulled away and redressed his pale body. He then relocated the cuffs around Sasuke's wrists to hold him in place. "I'm going to be out for a bit; I have some business to take care of. Kabuto will remain here to ensure you don't try to escape, so don't try anything unless you want him to come rushing." Those words were enough to make Sasuke want to stay put.

The business Orochimaru had mentioned was the Leaf elder, Danzo; there was no way this snake would let that old fool get the best of him. He looked over the young kid with those possessive eyes before leaving the chamber, which left Sasuke alone with his questioning mind.

"Hold up," Pakkun ordered, "we're getting close, but I also sense something else... Orochimaru's scent is moving away."

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"I can still smell him; he's definitely nearby, and so is Kabuto."

"We should decide what roles each of us will take now," Kakashi instructed, "as much as we all want to, we can't all rush to Sasuke."

"I believe I showed no interest in doing such a thing." Sai bluntly stated.

"That's beside the point," Kakashi replied, thinking little of the statement, "at least two people should stand guard outside in case Orochimaru returns, one or two should find and detain Kabuto, and the other one or two need to find Sasuke."

"If there are no objections, I would like to seek out my brother alone." Itachi declared.

"I want to come, too." Naruto added, but it was decided that he should stay on guard duty. The last thing anyone wanted was for Naruto going ballistic when he saw his lost friend. It was then agreed that Kakashi and Sakura would find Kabuto; the former had the power to defeat him, and the latter had the medical ninjutsu skills to counter some of his strikes. Sai and Pakkun were also assigned the position of guard since Pakkun could sense danger, and Sai could use his ink to detect other threats and relay messages.

Itachi was granted his request of locating Sasuke on his own. When the group located the entrance of the hideout, they set up in their positions. The three who actually entered split into two groups: Sakura and Kakashi, and the solo Itachi. Though they had established individual goals prior to entry, either team could stumble upon the opposite male.

Fortunately, things do no work out that way. Kakashi and Sakura came across Kabuto rather quickly; the man was experimenting with some strange colored liquids in a small laboratory located close to the exit.

"I figured it was only a matter of tile before the Leaf sent someone out," Kabuto turned to face them, "I suppose it's natural that they would send Team Seven."

"It does seem fitting," Kakashi agreed sarcastically, though it was true, "as I'm sure you know, we didn't come here to chat."

Itachi felt so helpless searching this dull place. It was a colossal lair; there would be no need for such a space unless prisoners were being harbored, but according to the little dog, there were only two people here at present.

He opened door after door trying to locate his brother, but every attempt failed. The only thing that forced Itachi to keep looking was his knowledge that Sasuke was definitely in this massive hideout.

It was discouraging for the eldest Uchiha brother, but his efforts did not fail him. About eleven doors down on the seventh corridor held the person Itachi was searching for. He flung the door open and caught sight of Sasuke.

**Another shorter chapter, but the next one will be good :)**


	38. Chapter 38

**Sorry this took a while to get up! I've had a killer headache for days! It finally went away, so I tried to finish this chapter up quickly! **

Itachi's eyes settled on young Sasuke. Other than a few scratches and bruises, the boy didn't appear in bad condition. It was apparent that this kid had gone through hell, though; the way he hung his head and didn't attempt to see who came in showed his shattered spirit. His undraped figure was held down to the cold flooring, and he seemed to be in some sort of peculiar daze.

Itachi examined the room and saw Sasuke's slightly torn clothing clumped in the corner. He retrieved them and proceeded to his brother. "Come on, Sasuke; let's go." The elder said calmly after breaking the restraints from his little sibling's wrists.

Sasuke snapped out of his distance frame of mind when he heard Itachi's voice. "What are you doing here?" He asked. The expression on his face was partially unreadable; it was a mix if anger, confusion, and sadness.

That question took Itachi off guard, though his expression was understandable considering his predicament. "I've come here to get you."

"Why would you do that?" Sasuke questioned. Orochimaru's method of planting mistrust seemed to be working...

"I don't understand why you're asking me that," Itachi responded, "I want to bring you home; you need to get away from this place."

"You told me you would always be there for me, but look what happened when I trusted you... You lied... Again..."

"Sasuke, I never meant for this to happen," Itachi claimed, "I made a stupid choice and left you open to this, but-"

"You said you wouldn't do that to me." Sasuke reiterated.

"I know I did, and I can't tell you how much I regret giving Orochimaru the opportunity to bring you here, but I didn't know something like that would ever happen."

"Of course you would say that now... It's just like Orochimaru said; you don't really care. You probably only came so you could finally take my eyes."

So it was Orochimaru who made Sasuke doubt him...

"He probably said those things because he knew I was going to come for you. He doesn't want you to trust me so that you willingly leave, but you have to understand that nothing he told you is true."

"It's typical for you to say something like that."

"Look, Sasuke, I don't care what regard you hold me in right now, but I'm not leaving without you." Itachi stammered.

Sasuke stared blankly back; he wanted Itachi to be speaking the truth, but he couldn't know for sure. There were so many different possibilities that could be either true or false; it was difficult to decide on just one.

"We can sort this out later. Come on." Itachi said pulling his now clothed brother from the floor.

Sasuke resisted Itachi. "I can't go with you; I can't trust you right now. How do I know that you don't just want to use me?"

"Would you rather stay here?" Itachi questioned. It seemed harsh to ask his little brother that, but he had to drive his point into Sasuke's head.

"I... No, but I..." He was so confused; he didn't know who to believe...

Itachi, being the stronger of the two, managed to pluck Sasuke from the floor and drag him away. The younger continued to struggle.

"I understand why you may bot trust me, Sasuke. However, Orochimaru could come back any second. I can handle him, but I don't want you anywhere near him." That was the worst thing that could happen; if the Sannin were to show up, he would only confirm Sasuke's doubts.

As Itachi began to haul Sasuke through the corridors to the entrance, the younger tried to pry away. After realizing he could not force his escape, Sasuke settled on asking a question. "How do I know that I can trust you?"

Itachi thought about that for a long moment, though he never stopped pulling the younger along. "I suppose that you can't know for sure," he revealed, "you can only decide for yourself whether I am worth trusting. After all I have done, even if it was only meant to aid you, you have the right to despise me..." Saying those words was painful for the elder; he accepted the hate he received from Sasuke, but it was never easy.

Hearing those words caused an even bigger rift in Sasuke's torn thoughts. That was such an indirect answer... It almost sounded as though Itachi wanted to receive loathsome feelings. "I just don't know..." Sasuke mumbled, barely loud enough for his brother to hear.

"Sasuke!" The blond's voice was the first sound to enter Sasuke's head when he emerged into the sunlight. It had been several days since he had seen the light or people he considered his comrades. "Sasuke," Naruto repeated, "are you okay?"

Not wanting to seem weak in front of these people, the Uchiha responded with his usual tone. "I'm fine." But he wasn't, not at all. His mind was pulling itself in hundreds of directions, and his body was still fatigued from drugs and abuse.

"We should go back," Kakashi spoke next, "we need to have Sasuke examined by the medical staff and take Kabuto in for interrogation." He gestured to the unconscious and bound medic crumpled at his feet.

Sasuke wasn't sure if going to the Leaf would prove to be a good idea, but with Itachi firmly holding his wrist, he had no choice. Though Itachi couldn't have cared less about his own well being, Sasuke's was on the top of his priority list, and he had to do what was in his younger brother's best interest.

Since Itachi let him have no say in the matter, Sasuke went back to the village with his former teammates.

"So Sasuke's at the hospital?" Tsunade sought confirmation.

"Yes, and Kabuto has been placed in a cell in the interrogation center." Kakashi replied.

"And Orochimaru?" She asked.

"He wasn't there..." Itachi was the next to answer.

This confirmed another suspicion Tsunade had. "I figured as much... While you were on your mission, Danzo disappeared again. I sent out a team to investigate, and they found his body. It seems that he was killed around the same time you were at Orochimaru's hideout. It's apparent now that he was the one to kill Danzo."

The two men in the room were shocked at this. It made sense though; Danzo's plot to use Orochimaru as a pawn would not settle with the snake.

"Do you know where Orochimaru is now?" Kakashi wondered.

"No... The Anbu who found Danzo didn't find traces of him. I would guess that he probably went back to his hideout, which means we will probably be seeing him again."

"There is absolutely no way I will allow him to get near Sasuke again." Itachi declared.

"We won't let that happen," Tsunade agreed, "he won't touch that boy again."

"It's not only that..." Itachi sighed. "The physical things he has done are horrendous, and that has seriously affected his mind. However, Orochimaru started to turn Sasuke against me; he made it seem as if I truly do want to kill him."

"That disgusting snake sure enjoys manipulating people..." Tsunade stammered. "We need to do something about him now."


	39. Chapter 39

Sasuke was lying in a bed in a dark hospital room. The medic who examined him told him that he could return home, but Itachi would be there, and he wasn't ready to face him. In reality, he wanted more than anything to believe his older brother, but it was so difficult after everything that happened.

Unfortunately for Sasuke, he would have to speak with Itachi sooner than planned. "Did you decide to stay here because I would be at your apartment?" The elder Uchiha asked from the doorway.

"I want to be alone right now..." Sasuke responded. "I need to figure some things out."

"I don't think being alone is the best thing for you," Itachi said, "I found out that Danzo has been killed."

"Then you have no reason to worry."

"Orochimaru killed him, and I'm guessing he will want you back when he realizes you are gone again."

"I don't know if I'm any safer with you..." Sasuke admitted his doubt.

"I can't make you trust me again; that's something you have to decide on your own."

"I want to, and I did before this all happened. Now, I don't know how I can trust you when you left me again." Sasuke choked out. His painful memories were all accumulating at the front of his mind.

Itachi saw the struggle written all over his little brother's face, which compelled him to finally advance into the room. He stopped several paces away from the bed where Sasuke was sitting. The younger shifted uncomfortably when Itachi got closer to him.

"Can you trust Orochimaru?" Itachi asked.

"No... I would never trust that... That disgusting thing." Sasuke stammered. Why would anyone even ask him that?

"Then why are you believing what he says about me?" Itachi wasn't trying to grill Sasuke about his actions; he was only trying to help him organize his thoughts by getting him to admit the truth.

"I... Because I still can't forgive you for leaving me eight years ago!" Sasuke shouted.

"I never wanted-"

"I know you didn't want to do it, and I'm not mad at you for doing what you had to for the village. I'm mad because you lied to me and made me hate you... I've lived my whole life in your world of lies; how am I supposed to forget all of that?" That was the end of any composure Sasuke had; his emotions all flooded from his eyes. "And after everything Orochimaru said, even if it was to pit me against you, I can't help but agree with him!"

Itachi was at a loss for words; instead, he once again moved closer to Sasuke. He pulled his younger brother into a firm embrace, who was startled by the sudden action; after all, he basically told Itachi that he still held hateful feelings towards him. "There's nothing I can say to change the past... And there's nothing I can say to console you now, but I truly am sorry for everything I have caused..."

"I know you are, and that's why I don't know what to think," Sasuke confessed, "you didn't want to put me through all of this, but my life has been so hard because of you..."

"By the time I realized that I should have acted differently, it was too late; you had already seen things that were unforgivable." The elder brother said, still tightly clinging onto Sasuke. The younger wasn't sure about the contact he received, but in his state of disarray, he decided not to fight it. "I never wanted this to happen, and I never imagined things would turn out to be so horrible."

Sasuke did not reply; he knew that Itachi was speaking the truth, but his pent up feelings could not be suppressed further. Instead of thinking through anymore of this, the Uchiha let Itachi support his weight. His brain was overloaded with emotions and decisions and memories; these things would take time to sort, and right now, though he didn't necessarily want this, Itachi's embrace put him at ease.

"I want you to know that you should feel free to take as much time as you need to think this over," Itachi continued through Sasuke's silence, "and if you decide that you want nothing else to do with me, that's fine; because no matter what you do, I'll always love you."

Though that was apparent through his actions, the words took Sasuke off guard. Itachi usually kept his feelings locked away, even when Sasuke was a child. He remembered Itachi saying things about protecting him and looking after him, but he had never before so bluntly stated his brotherly affection.

It became very clear to the younger brother that he had to settle the conflict in his head. He could not leave the one person who was always there for him hanging; he had to make his resolve clear and known. The only problem was that Sasuke, himself, was still unsure about his resolve...

"I love you, too," Sasuke said at last, "even when I hated you, part of me couldn't cut off everything I had once thought of you. You're my brother, and I'll never be able to undo the bond that we share." He finally hugged Itachi back and then spoke again. "That said, there are still many unresolved issues I have."

"And you need to figure all of that out on your own; you're the only one who can decide how you feel." He may have stayed collected on the outside, but inside, Itachi was overjoyed that Sasuke's doubt didn't overcome the faith he regained in his older brother. It was nice to be able to get close to Sasuke again, even if the younger's guard was not lowered.

After Sasuke had ceased the tears flowing down his face, he pulled away from his brother. "I think you should probably go back to my apartment for now; I'd like to get some sleep."

"Are you planning to stay here long?" Itachi asked.

"Like I said, I need to figure some things out..."

"I understand and support that, but Orochimaru is still out there. It may not be best for you to be alone at the current time."

"I was alone before you came here, and you didn't seem to care then." Sasuke began to accuse Itachi of being careless again; it seemed that Orochimaru's words had a deeper impact than Sasuke previously let on.

"That's why I'm here now; during the day time, there are many jonin level medics and other shinobi in the hospital. It was safe then, but at night, that's not the case."

There was no way in hell that Sasuke would go back with Orochimaru; he would rather gouge his eyes out than even look at that snake.

"Why don't you come home tonight?" Itachi proposed. "I'll sleep on the floor, so we won't share your bed."

Protection from his brother whom he was uncertain about at the moment was better than none, so he obliged. When they arrived at Sasuke's apartment, he felt panic slink up his body.

The memory of that night when Orochimaru and Kabuto came for him pressed forward in his mind, forcing fear to join it. He tried his best to shoo the thoughts away, but he was terrified.

Several minutes after Itachi set up across the room and Sasuke had laid down, the younger sat up and spoke. "Itachi..."

The elder sat up from his bed of blankets. "Yes?" He asked, though he figured what Sasuke wanted before the younger continued.

"Could you sleep over here tonight?" It was embarrassing for Sasuke to ask for his older brother to sleep next to him; he was too old for that, but Itachi's presence always gave him comfort, even if he felt partially uncertain about the man.

"Sure." Itachi replied and made his way to the bed. Even though his little brother was weary of him at the moment, there was nothing more comforting than having his beloved older brother at his side.

After a period of awkward silence, the younger made a sound. "What will happen to Orochimaru?" Sasuke asked, more out of fear than anything else.

"I've decided to take care of that tomorrow. There's no need to worry." Itachi assured him. That snake was going to pay for what he had done.


	40. Chapter 40

**Another chapter ending with 0! Exciting!**

Sasuke woke up the next morning to find Itachi absent from the bed. He heard a noise from the bathroom and watched as the elder Uchiha emerged in fresh clothes, ready for the new day.

"Are you going somewhere?" Sasuke asked; he didn't want to be alone, but he didn't really want to admit that either.

"I do have something I'd like to take care of today," Itachi said thinking of Orochimaru, "but I'm not leaving you alone until you're somewhere safe."

"Like where?" Sasuke asked. He knew that even jonin, such as Kakashi, couldn't defend against Orochimaru, and the only reason he managed to kill him once was because of the man's extremely weakened body.

"I'd prefer to stay with you, but I need to do something, and you can't come along." Itachi stated. He needed to find Orochimaru, and it was pretty much guaranteed that Orochimaru wanted to find Sasuke. Above all, that man still wanted his body for the sharingan.

Surely the snake couldn't be foolish enough to try to reclaim Sasuke, though. He should be smart enough to figure that Itachi would not let that happen, but after everything the snake endured to obtain the sharingan, he would not just give up.

Sasuke could see the gears churning away in his brother's head. It was clear that the thing Itachi wanted to take care of was Orochimaru. "Will you stay with me today?"

Itachi turned his attention from Orochimaru's possible plan to his little brother. "I promise that you will be safe with someone else; besides, I really need to do something today." Itachi spoke as he took a seat opposite of Sasuke on the bed.

"Please...?" Sasuke asked again; he was still rather indecisive when it came to forgiving Itachi, but it was clear that his big brother did care deeply about him. "I want Orochimaru dead more than you do, but the last time you left..."

The elder was pleased to know that his presence was still valued by Sasuke. "I'll stay with you." He could never refuse a plea from the sibling that he treasured so much.

"I want to apologize..." Sasuke meekly mumbled, "I know that you only wanted to protect me, but I let my past emotions get the best of me."

Itachi smiled softly. "You have no reason to apologize; it must be hard for you to trust people, especially me, after what I did. If anyone should apologize, it should be me again."

"You're trying to blame this all on yourself; it's true that I haven't forgiven you, but that's not your fault. The real person responsible is dead." The younger pointed the blame at Danzo.

"That may be true, but as I've said before, I should have taken a different approach when it came to you. The things that happened to you are due to my neglect of the situation."

"Are you trying to make this worse for yourself?" Sasuke asked sarcastically. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you're trying to make things worse for yourself."

Though Sasuke was only joking to lighten the melancholy mood, there was some validity behind his words. Itachi had done everything the way he did in order to be reprimanded by another Uchiha; he felt that it was only fair. Perhaps, in some way, Sasuke's older brother was still aiming to obtain the guilt he deserved. "I never wanted you to hate me; I figured it was in your best interest to do so. It would make you stronger, but I see that course was not the most advantageous..."

"I'm not disagreeing with that," Sasuke sighed, "but I don't hate you, and truthfully, the fact that I did makes me remorseful now."

"That means a lot to me," admitted the elder, "and I want you to know that if you don't forgive me, that's fine. You don't need to grant a pardon for my actions."

It wasn't that he didn't want to acquit Itachi; the simple fact was that Sasuke didn't know how to forgive his brother. He desperately wanted to, but the pain he suffered would not allow that action; not yet, at least.

At a different location in the village, a remote area that Team Seven often trained at, Kakashi and his subordinates were gathered.

"Lady Tsunade decided to leave Orochimaru to Itachi," the jonin in charge stated, "and Sasuke is rejoining our team."

The two other members present, Naruto and Sakura, were overwhelmed with joy. They had been waiting for years to hear that news.

"What's going to happen to Sai?" Sakura proceeded to ask when the emotionless boy came to mind. He was a member of their team, after all.

"He's going to be placed with the regular Anbu members. The Foundation doesn't have a leader anymore, so those shinobi are all being placed in different areas."

"We'll still see him around," Naruto said, he had truthfully grown fond of the artist, even though he was socially awkward, "I'm just glad that Sasuke is finally back where he belongs!"

"That's actually what I wanted to speak with you both about," Kakashi then declared.

"Well, yeah," Naruto interrupted, "that's why you brought it up."

"I want to tell you more than the fact that he's joining us again," The jonin replied, "as you know, Sasuke's been through more than his fair share. I don't think he will allude to that, but you need to be understanding of him. He'll probably act even colder than he used."

"If I could have stopped him that day..." Naruto lamented, "... If I-"

"You're not the one to blame for this, Naruto," Sakura tried to console him, "what happened to Sasuke wasn't your fault; a lot of people contributed to this result, and you only tried to help, so don't blame yourself."

The words she spoke resonated with many of the people involved; including Kakashi Sensei, Itachi, and even herself. There was a variety of people who attempted to take responsibility, but this was a consequence of the age in which they were living; it was something generations old. Therefore, no one could truly shoulder the guilt.

"Sakura's right, Naruto," Kakashi agreed, "I think it was inevitable. The only person we can really call out is Orochimaru. Anyway, this did happen, and we need to be especially understanding of Sasuke."

"He still acted normal when he came back the last time; I don't think he's going to be much different." Naruto claimed.

"That's true, but you remember what Itachi said, right? He told us that Sasuke was having a really hard time dealing with this, and I recently found out that Sasuke was told by Orochimaru that he shouldn't trust Itachi."

"Sasuke wouldn't believe that guy!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke might have been naive at times, but he wasn't that foolish.

"From what I've heard, he did believe it. After hating his brother for so long, it would be hard to forgive him, and them someone else put ideas in his head about it. I can see why Sasuke would be confused."

"I'd like to go beat some sense into Orochimaru!" Naruto raged.

"I already told you that's being taken care of," Kakashi replied, "I only brought the both of you here to inform you of the current situation. I need you two to keep everything I've told you in mind."

"You don't have to worry about that!" Naruto assured him; he knew the pain of having no one to trust, and Naruto didn't want Sasuke to experience that again.

"We'll take good care of him, Kakashi Sensei," Sakura agreed, "Sasuke can always count on us."

"I know he can; just be sure not to bring Orochimaru or Itachi up when you're talking to him. He's living with Itachi again, but I don't know how things are going with them, so it's best to just leave him out."

"You got it!" Naruto shouted. "So is that all, or do we have a mission today?"

"That's all; Lady Tsunade hasn't assigned our team a mission since we are directly involved with Sasuke's situation. She wants to keep us here in case we are needed for something pertaining to that."

"All right, then. I'm going to get ramen!" Naruto exclaimed. "Who wants to join me?"


	41. Chapter 41

**this chapter was hard to write, I hope you like it!**

The next day came upon the Leaf Village, and with it, new obligations. Itachi had taken the previous day to watch over Sasuke at his younger brother's request, but today he felt the need to go after Orochimaru. In his mind, the snake man did not deserve to roam freely, let alone be alive.

"I'm sorry to have to leave you," Itachi noted to his brother, "but today I must find Orochimaru."

"I understand..." Sasuke sighed. He didn't want his brother to leave, even if it was to kill the Sannin.

"I should be back in a few days, maybe only one if I'm lucky," Itachi continued, "it was decided that you will be staying with Kakashi again until I come back."

Sasuke hated the idea of staying with his teacher again; living with Itachi was one thing since they brothers and once lived together, but having Kakashi order him around outside of missions was irritating. He didn't protest, though. It was safest for him to be with someone vigilant, even if Kakashi could not hold his own against Orochimaru.

"I'll walk you over there; then I have to leave," Itachi told, "I was supposed to do this yesterday, but you are more important. Unfortunately, it can't wait any longer. After all, this was also a mission assigned to me."

"So that's why you're doing this?" Sasuke asked; he still lacked a sense of faith in his brother. Was this proof that Itachi only wanted to kill Orochimaru for reasons excluding Sasuke?

"That's part of it, I suppose, but I personally want to reprimand Orochimaru for every laying a hand on you," Itachi revealed his motives, "let's get going."

The Uchiha brothers headed out early to meet up with the younger's sensei. They strolled through the barren morning streets at a sluggish pace, examining as the sun slowly ascended.

"Once you come back, are you still going to stay with me?" Sasuke asked since their current living arrangement was not ideal. Besides, once there were no more threats, Itachi would not have to constantly loom around Sasuke.

"That's up to you," Itachi mused, "it would be nice to have a bed to myself again, though."

"I guess we can figure that out later," Sasuke said as they approached the complex containing Kakashi.

"Looks like we'll have to," the elder agreed, "please don't run off when he's sleeping like you did last time, okay?"

"I won't."

"I'll be back within a few days; stay safe, Sasuke." Itachi said with a hand placed on his brother's shoulder.

"I'll try; believe me." Sasuke replied. Itachi didn't want to be overbearing, but he couldn't help but pull Sasuke into a hug before leaving. At first the little brother was hesitant to return the gesture, but he finally embraced Itachi.

Several moments later, Sasuke was inside of Kakashi's home, and Itachi was gone to search for the Sannin.

"I'm guessing that you've heard that you're being placed back onto Team Seven?" Kakashi asked; Itachi probably mentioned it since he was present when the hokage made the decision.

"No." Sasuke replied in a single word.

"Oh," the man said, "I thought that maybe Itachi told you."

"That's not the kind of thing we were discussing." Sasuke scowled; this was exactly why Kakashi didn't want to bring up Itachi in conversation. He kicked himself for breaking his own rule.

"Well, now you know. The original team has been reassembled." Kakashi stated.

"I feel like you want me to be happy or something," Sasuke analyzed the mostly covered expression on the jonin's face, "but it really doesn't matter to me."

"I thought that our team could go out for lunch today," Kakashi offered, "I told Naruto that I would pay since he ended up going alone yesterday."

"I have to eat, so that's fine." Sasuke replied nonchalantly.

"Remember what Kakashi Sensei said; don't mention Orochimaru or Itachi to Sasuke." Sakura instructed her friend as they waited in the restaurant.

"Yeah, I got it," Naruto said impatiently since his teacher and other teammate were late, "hey, there they are!" He pointed in the direction in which Kakashi and Sasuke were approaching.

"Hi guys," Kakashi greeted, "sorry we're late; I couldn't find the key to lock my door when we were leaving."

"That's the first excuse I've heard from you that I could actually believe," Naruto said before turning to Sasuke, "hey! How's it going?" He asked in a concerned voice.

"Wipe that sympathetic look off your face," Sasuke barked. He didn't really want to see anyone, but he had to go with Kakashi, and Naruto usually annoyed him anyway.

"I just asked how you were..." Naruto sighed.

"You don't have to look at me like I'm some pathetic wretch," Sasuke said, he then noticed that the same expression was coming from Sakura, "neither do you."

"Sorry, Sasuke," Sakura apologized. She didn't want to cause her beloved Sasuke to grow angry "so why don't we order?"

There was silence until the food was out, and then the sound of chewing was the only noise to be heard. Sasuke seemed to be in an awful mood, which was understandable, though it caused the group to refrain from speech.

Finally, Naruto wanted to break the awkward pause in words. "So I bet staying with Kakashi Sensei again must not be fun."

The jonin had overheard their previous conversation about him, and it did upset the silence, so it didn't bother the man. "I've only been around him for three hours, so I don't mind it yet." Sasuke said.

"I bet you'll be taking off on him by tomorrow." Naruto snickered, recalling when Kakashi caught him the last time.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked; she had been out of the loop while working at the hospital several weeks ago.

"I forgot you didn't hear about that, Sakura," the blond started, "Sasuke had to stay with Kakashi Sensei a few weeks ago, and he wasn't supposed to go anywhere without him, but he left early in the morning. Then I met up with him and..." Naruto continued to tell the story, but Sasuke zoned out.

He was engulfed in his own thoughts. When would Itachi find Orochimaru? Would Orochimaru learn that Itachi left and decide to come for Sasuke? What did he really think of his brother? The train of thoughts was broken when Sakura spoke.

"Wow, Sasuke," she laughed, "I wouldn't have guessed that you would run away from Kakashi Sensei! That's pretty rebellious." She teased.

"I wouldn't say that was one of my most rebellious choices." Sasuke responded gloomily. He wasn't in the mood for fun or jokes. Everything on his mind was dead serious.

"Team Seven eating at Ichiraku brings back memories, doesn't it?" Naruto changed the subject. Being understanding was hard. He knew that Sasuke had been through hell and back, but his negative outlook on everything was hard to accept.

"It sure does..." Sakura agreed, remembering the good old days.

"That was when you were all genin," Kakashi joined in, "well... I guess two of you still are..."

"The rank doesn't matter! I'm a great ninja!" Naruto defended himself.

"You're still a loser." Sasuke sounded like his old self.

"You're one of the genin Kakashi Sensei was talking about!" The blond retaliated.

"At least I can accept that."

"I never said I didn't! I said that my rank doesn't change the fact that I'll be hokage one day!"

"Looks like we still need to work on teamwork..." Kakashi sighed as Sasuke and Naruto continued to bash each other. He had hoped his two rival students had grown up some, but that didn't appear to be the case. At least their immaturity over such matters lead to a more normal Sasuke.

"I don't know if they will ever stop this." Sakura added to Kakashi's statement.

"I still say that you have no right to talk since you are the same level as me." Naruto concluded the bickering between himself and the Uchiha.

"Whatever; this is pointless to talk about anyway." The other surmised.

Shortly after Kakashi paid the bill, the group dispersed. Naruto went off in search of something else to do, Sakura's parents requested her presence at home, and the two others returned to Kakashi's dwelling.

"I guess you'll be sleeping on the couch again," Kakashi said to Sasuke.

"This is stupid..." Sasuke mumbled to himself. He knew that it was better to be with a skilled shinobi, but Kakashi could not compare to Orochimaru's power, so the whole thing seemed pointless. Sasuke could hold his own against the snake had he not been paralyzed with fear at the sight of him; after all, he did know quite a few of his weaknesses from his years of cohabitation with the Sannin.

"It might be stupid," Kakashi said after hearing Sasuke uttering to himself, "but we're just trying to ensure your safety. It's not uncommon for a ninja to be assigned to protect someone like this, but it would usually be a ninja looking out for a regular person, not another shinobi. Either way, you'll be out of here in a few days, so hang in there kid."

Sasuke hated hearing Kakashi's spiels; they were always boring... Starting with that, Sasuke could tell that the day was going to be long. Kakashi would probably just sit around reading his disgraceful books like he did last time, which would leave Sasuke the chance to do absolutely nothing. Since he had to stay near Kakashi, he had to remain in the apartment, and there was nothing interesting or time consuming for him to do.

That was the worst; it left Sasuke a bunch if time to become lost in his thoughts, and right now, those thoughts were not happy ones.

Several hours later, Sasuke was sitting on his couch-bed. He had been there for quite some time, thinking. The only thing that interrupted his mind were the sheepish giggles coming from Kakashi as he read, which he found ridiculous.

Kakashi looked up from his novel after another moment and saw how Sasuke was deep in thought. Since thinking about Orochimaru was probably not the best for the boy, the jonin spoke.

"I need to get some groceries," he informed Sasuke, "do you mind going out right now?"

"No." Sasuke sighed; he wanted to avoid people in general, but he also wanted to avoid long periods of time to think; it would only upset him. Getting worked up in front of anyone other than Itachi was embarrassing; besides, Itachi was the only one who could really calm him down, and he was away at the present time.

After locking the door, the two shinobi headed towards a small store to obtain more food.

"You can wait outside while I shop if you'd like," Kakashi started, "please don't go wandering off."

Sasuke hated being treated like a child. "I won't." He heaved a sigh to show his irritation.

"I won't take too long." Kakashi concluded.

"So it is true..." Sasuke heard someone say. He looked over to see Team Eight walking through the crowd towards him.

"I heard you had come back," Kiba continued, "but I haven't seen you yet, not that I was really looking for you."

If anyone was more incompetent than Naruto, this would be the guy. Sasuke couldn't stand him.

"Why are you standing out here?" Kiba asked next; it was sort of strange for him to just be standing outside of a grocery store.

"I'm waiting for someone." He replied bluntly, hoping to get rid of them.

"Alright, whatever..." Kiba picked up Sasuke's irritation towards them. Just as they were about to leave, Naruto strolled up to join the conversation.

"Hey, guys!" He said cheerfully. "What's going on?"

"We were about to leave," Shino said, "Sasuke doesn't want us here." Leave it to him to make things even more uncomfortable...

"Ha, well, that's Sasuke for you..." Naruto responded, half jokingly. He could understand why Sasuke wouldn't want to talk to anyone, especially people he never really had connections with.

Naruto continued to stand around after the others walked off. "Since Kakashi Sensei isn't here, I'm guessing you took off on him?"

"You're an idiot." Sasuke answered nonchalantly as he leaned against the building.

Naruto squinted his eyes. "And what makes me an idiot today?"

"A lot of things," the Uchiha replied, "why would I jut be standing outside of a grocery store if I left? I would have at least gone somewhere Kakashi wouldn't find me."

"Oh... That's not enough to make me an idiot, though."

"That's why I started with 'a lot of things.'" Sasuke noted.

"You're ridiculous."

"At least I'm not an idiot."

Naruto brushed off that discussion. It wasn't going anywhere, so he changed topics. "So where is Kakashi Sensei?"

"Where do you think he is?" Sasuke asked; it was pretty obvious, after all.

Naruto was about to come up with a snarky reply, but then he suddenly remembered what Kakashi said earlier about being especially nice to Sasuke. "I guess that was a dumb question."

"Yeah, it was."

"Yep..." Naruto said. This was strange; the only conversations he and Sasuke ever had pertained to putting each other down, but he didn't want to do that.

"What's with you?" Sasuke asked, noticing that Naruto wasn't trying to provoke him further.

"Nothing," Naruto said, "I just don't feel like getting into another argument."

"You always argue with me... Over everything."

"Not always; we have good conversations sometimes."

Sasuke stared blankly at his friend. "Give me one example."

"Ummm... Well..." There had to have been at least one time. "When you came back a few weeks ago. We were sitting on a bench over by the training grounds, and then Kakashi Sensei came up behind us."

"You're still acting weird..." Sasuke concluded.

"If you say so."

"Whatever..." This behavior was suspicious.

"Yeah..."

"If you're trying to be nice because you think I can't handle myself, you need to stop." Sasuke stated coldly.

"It's not like that!" Naruto protested with a lie.

"You don't honestly think I'm stupid enough to not realize that, do you?" Sasuke interrogated. "You and Sakura were looking at me with the saddest expressions today; I'm used to her fawning over me, but you're acting the same way."

"Okay, fine; I'm trying to be nice, but not because you can't handle yourself... I know you've gone through a lot of stuff, and I'm trying to help you out."

"I don't need someone else acting fake for my sake." Hissed the Uchiha.

"I'm not being fake!" The jinchuriki exclaimed.

Sasuke glared at Naruto; he never accepted the help of others well. "Im fine with what happened," he lied, "so stop trying to be nice; you're not good at it anyway."

"I know you're not fine, Sasuke, so you can stop trying to act fine."

"And how would you know anything about what I think?" Sasuke's glare darkened.

"Itachi told us that you're having a really hard time..." Naruto revealed.

Sasuke's eyes widened. His expression changed from irritation towards Naruto to anger at his brother. Naruto noticed the shift and tried to resolve the problem he caused.

"He only said that because he was worried about you!" The blond declared; now he was breaking another of Kakashi's rules: don't speak about Itachi.

"What exactly did he say?" The Uchiha growled; having his weakness exposed outraged him.

"Something about you being sad sometimes, which is understandable-"

"What exactly did he say?" Sasuke asked again, with more anger in his voice.

"That you try to act like nothing's wrong, but you actually break down every day..." Naruto hesitantly squeaked out.

"Who heard?"

"Not that many people... Just our team and Granny; that's all."

That's all? That was too many people... Sasuke was extremely prideful, even after his experiences with Orochimaru, and having anyone know about his true feelings put him to shame.

"Well, I should be going now..." Naruto added awkwardly. This was one of those things Sasuke would have to work out on his own; Naruto's presence would only make him angrier.

Sasuke didn't reply; he didn't want to speak: he only wanted to scream at his brother.


	42. Chapter 42

**This is the second version of chapter 42. I actually wrote another one that was almost 3,000 words, but it did not go into depth on any of the issues happening, so I rewrote it and decided to spread it out more :)**

Itachi had been jumping around from tree to tree; his search for Orochimaru was nearing the end of its first day. He had already checked the man's original base: the one he kept Sasuke in; however, he had no luck there.

Orochimaru had probably vacated that location when he returned from killing Danzo. After realizing that both Kabuto and Sasuke were gone, he most likely figured out that someone would come for him next, and he could have guessed that it would be Itachi.

Unfortunately for Itachi, this meant tracking down the other man, and he could be anywhere. This Uchiha was hoping to have found Orochimaru already because he wanted to get back to his little brother, but it seemed that this mission would take time.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was fuming about his brother. It made him furious that Itachi would tell people about his true feelings, especially the teammates that Sasuke wanted to keep them from the most.

At long last, Kakashi finally returned to the front of the grocery store. He noticed the significant mood change in Sasuke, but didn't know what caused it as he was busy shopping for a variety of food. "Are you ready to go back?"

Sasuke continued to stare straight ahead with a menacing look in his eyes. Itachi should have known that Sasuke didn't want to tell anyone about this, so his brother had no right to do so. That was just one more thing Sasuke now held against the elder Uchiha.

"I'll take that as a yes." Kakashi decided and started walking back to his home. Sasuke followed silently behind.

Once they arrived at Kakashi's humble dwelling, the jonin felt the need to find out what brought on Sasuke's horrible mood. "What's wrong, Sasuke?"

"Itachi already told you; what's the point in asking me?" He spat back.

"I'm guessing that you talked with Naruto while I was shopping..." The other sighed. Leave it to Naruto to talk about Itachi to Sasuke, and especially about something that would only outrage the latter.

"Is it that obvious?" Sasuke growled sarcastically.

"You know that Itachi only did that to convince everyone that we needed to get you away from Orochimaru as soon as possible," explained the elder, "he really just wants the best for you. He-"

"You don't know anything about him, or me for that matter!" Sasuke shouted. "He's my brother; everything I said to him was between us, and he repeated it to everyone that I didn't want to know! I trusted him, and he made a fool out of me!"

"That's not true, Sasuke. It's hard for you; we all know that, but try to calm down."

"Shut up!" Sasuke screamed. "You have no idea! Having everyone we were close to die is one thing we have in common, but you can't relate to this at all. What gives you the right to tell me to calm down?"

"I only want to help; you're my student and seeing you like this is painful."

"You want to have a conversation about pain? Fine," Sasuke was exploding with emotion and couldn't hold back, "you saw me with blood dripping down the back of my legs a few months ago; how do you think that happened? Do you think Orochimaru forcing himself on me felt good? Do you think that having your head slammed into the ground while someone is stretching your body for so long and so much that it won't stop bleeding was painless?"

This left Kakashi speechless. He had never though about that; he never wanted to. Every sensei held their students near their heart, and knowing that one of them had gone through that was revolting.

Sasuke's statement made it apparent that he had reached his breaking point. The only other person he had mentioned any of the previous information to was Itachi, but their relationship was on a different level than simply teacher and pupil.

"I figured as much..." Sasuke hissed. "You have no idea of what I went through."

"You're right," the jonin admitted, "I can't even begin to relate to that, and I can't even understand how awful that must have been. However, I do know that you don't have to be alone now; there are several people that are always here for you."

"You don't understand that I don't want them to 'help' me!" Sasuke stammered. "Having them look at me like I'm some broken toy makes it all worse... It makes me remember even when I manage to get it out of my head."

"I didn't know you felt that way, Sasuke..." Kakashi replied; he's the one who told his students to treat Sasuke kindly, though they probably would have been especially nice if he hadn't.

"And when I say that, it only makes it worse! You're giving me the most pitiful look right now... I don't need that; I don't want it, either," Sasuke choked out, he was trying his hardest not to break down right now, "I don't know what I want..."

"It's going to take time to figure that out, I suppose. There isn't a simple solution to this; the mental trauma you're experiencing is probably worse than the physical pain you underwent."

Sasuke swallowed back the rising lump in his throat. He was on the brink of tears, but crying in front of Kakashi was humiliating in his mind, even though the jonin encouraged him to release his emotions. Successfully holding back the waterworks, Sasuke took a seat on his usual sofa and began sifting through his feelings.

Truthfully, he wanted to see his brother. The elder Uchiha could always make Sasuke feel better, and though the latter was angered by his brother's actions, Itachi would be able to soothe Sasuke.

Perhaps the younger needed to separate himself from his friends and mentors for a time; the sorrowful looks he received from them caused him greater emotional grief. Being alone would do him good, but Kakashi would not allow that to happen. However, there was no reason to stay with the jonin. He could not withstand an attack from Orochimaru, and unlike Danzo, the Sannin could strike at anytime with no regard for the village. If Orochimaru wanted Sasuke back, he would have no trouble obtaining him with Itachi's absence. It would actually be safer if Sasuke left the village until Orochimaru was eliminated.

He settled it in his mind; Sasuke was going to head off when Kakashi slumbered later that evening...

"Ouch! That hurt!" Naruto exclaimed when Sakura punched him.

"You deserve it! Why would you tell Sasuke what his brother said? That was bound to make things worse!" The pink haired girl responded as she unclenched her fist.

"I didn't mean to make it worse! It just kind of happened..." The blond said. "You didn't have to hit me..."

It had been dark out for some time, and the two shinobi had been out training together since their missions were on hold for a while. They had recently wrapped up practice and were heading back towards the main part of the village. Suddenly, to both Naruto's and Sakura's shock, a figure with the Uchiha crest plaster to its back flashed by.

Sakura and Naruto turned to face each other. "That was Sasuke..." Naruto said.

"Yeah," Sakura confirmed his identity, "isn't he supposed to be with Kakashi Sensei, though?"

"He's leaving the village." They said in unison upon realizing the direction Sasuke was going.

"I'm going after him!" Naruto shouted. "You need to wake up Kakashi Sensei and tell him what happened!"

"Wait, Naruto!" Sakura yelled, but her blond friend had already taken off after Sasuke. Her best option was to do as instructed an alert the jonin.

"Kakashi Sensei!" Sakura screeched when she arrived at his building. She violently slammed her fist against the door to wake up her teacher. "Please answer the door, Sensei!"

"Sakura?" The door swung open. The man seemed overrun with drowsiness and probably hadn't noticed that Sasuke wasn't there. "Why are you here?"

"It's Sasuke; me and Naruto were walking back from the training grounds, and he ran past us. He was going towards the main gate of the village," as she spoke, Kakashi grew wide-eyed, "Naruto went chasing after him, and I came to tell you."

"Go inform Lady Tsunade of this," Kakashi instructed, "I need to find him before he gets too far away!"

"Yes," Sakura agreed to relay the news to the hokage, "I'll go right away!"

Only moments later, Kakashi was ready to set out on his quest. The man was not going after Sasuke and Naruto, however. He was instead going to use Pakkun to track down the elder Uchiha brother. Kakashi knew it would be pointless to go after the other two; Sasuke would only try to run further and end up resenting the jonin for not allowing such an event. Besides, Kakashi could not stand against Orochimaru; Tsunade barely managed to win against this man with the aid of the great Master Jiraiya. It was settled that his best option was to find Itachi.


	43. Chapter 43

**We are getting towards the end of the story! There will still be several more chapters, though :)**

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out to his friend who was racing away. "Sasuke! Wait up!"

The Uchiha spared a glance for Naruto. "Get lost, loser!" He yelled back.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!"

"Just go home, Naruto!"

"No!"

Sasuke was already in a sour mood, and he just wanted to be alone, and Orochimaru would not come looking for him out in the middle of the woods.

"Would you stop for a second?" Naruto persisted. "I want to talk to you!"

It was clear from previous experiences that Naruto would not let Sasuke take off without some sort of explanation, especially since Sasuke was supposed to be with Kakashi.

"Don't tell me you're doing this just to get away from Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto called out after the other teen.

"I'm doing this to get away from you, too!" He yelled back. "So stop following me!"

"No!"

This kid was so stubborn; there was no shaking him off. Sasuke skidded on his heels to a halt. Naruto nearly collided with him since he wasn't expecting the former to stop.

"I just need time to myself right now, okay?" Sasuke said.

"So this is about Kakashi Sensei?" Naruto asked cluelessly.

"I have a lot on my mind, and I don't want to be around anyone."

"But you didn't have to run away! Orochimaru could be-"

"Don't," Sasuke interrupted, "Itachi is the only person who could kill that man, so there was no point in waiting for Orochimaru to find out he left. Then I would be a sitting duck waiting for him to come back."

"Yeah... But everyone's worried about you now!" Naruto exclaimed. "Sakura, and I'm sure Kakashi Sensei is, too."

"I need time to think..." Sasuke replied. "And I need to do it alone."

"But if something happens to you, it's going to be my fault."

"If something does happen, it won't have anything to do with you."

"I'll blame myself for it, though. Can't you just come back and sort this out with other people? You don't have to do everything alone."

"I can't do that now, so please just go."

"Even if I do, I'm sure other people from the village are going to come... No one wants a repeat of last time, so they are going to do whatever Granny deems necessary."

"Tell them not to come; tell them I'm fine," Sasuke instructed, "you should understand where I'm coming from. You know the pain of being alone, and I need to sort out a few things."

Naruto looked at his closest friend; it was true. They had both suffered from the cruel world of loneliness. It was a harsh place to be, so how could Naruto refuse?

"I'm asking you this as a friend, Naruto."

"Okay..." Naruto gave in, "just promise that you are going to come back this time."

"I will," Sasuke assured the blond, "thank you, Naruto."

Naruto was hesitant to leave Sasuke. That boy was so confused; was it the right choice to just walk away? In this jinchuriki's mind, it was; it had to be.

The Uchiha plopped down by a nearby tree to rest. This was a location pretty far from the village; Naruto had been pestering him for a while before they actually stopped, and this was a fine place to think. With Naruto gone and the others taken care of, Sasuke could resolve his internal conflicts.

"I must say it was quite a bother to wait for Naruto to finally leave," a voice pronounced, "but no one will come looking for you now. My patience paid off."

That voice, it was so smooth and terrifying... Sasuke froze when it slithered into his ears. From the shadows, a pale man known as Orochimaru stepped forth.

"Wh... How?" Sasuke whispered; he could not fully speak from his fear.

"Are you wondering how I found you, boy? That is rather simple," Orochimaru smirked, "I have many connections, you see. I learned that your brother was out of the village searching for none other than myself. This gave me the perfect opportunity to reclaim what belongs to me. Come along, Sasuke."

There was no way this Uchiha, or any other for that matter, would ever willingly let Orochimaru get his hands on him. Trying to escape seemed promising... Sasuke was extremely fast, after all. If only he could shake his terror away so he could make a break for it.

"There's no sense in running, Sasuke. I wouldn't try that if I were you, unless you want more than you already have coming," Orochimaru moved closer to the shaking boy, "you should really pull yourself together, my dear boy. You are trembling."

Sasuke was sure that Orochimaru would not find him out here, but he was mistaken. To make matters worse, he had just told Naruto to stop the other shinobi tracking him down. And to top that, this Sannin caused Sasuke to be stricken with panic and become paralyzed, leaving him open to anything...

"Wait!" Naruto shouted as he rushed down the hall to Granny's office.

"Sakura, I thought you said he went after Sasuke..." Tsunade said upon hearing the blond's screams.

"He did, but-" Naruto interrupted her mid sentence.

"I caught up to Sasuke, and I talked with him for a few minutes," the boy informed them, "he needs to he alone right now. Please don't send out a team!"

"So you let him go?" Sakura screeched. "That's so dangerous!"

"I wouldn't have done it if I thought it would cause more problems... Besides, he had a point. Orochimaru wouldn't check for him out in the woods. He would check the village first."

"So you're asking me to just let him roam around alone?" Tsunade confirmed. "You realize that we aren't just ding this for his sake, right? As important as it is to protect Sasuke, it is more important to protect the village, and that would be extremely difficult if Orochimaru got his hands on the sharingan."

"Please just let him be alone," Naruto pleaded, "he really needs it, and the chances of Orochimaru actually getting to him are really low."

The hokage knew that Naruto would not ask something like this if he did not have a good motive, and she usually granted requests to this genin. "Fine... I'll give it a few days, but if he's not back in, let's say forty eight hours, I'm sending some of the Anbu black ops to bring him back."

"That won't be a problem, Granny," Naruto assured both women in the room, "he promised that this time he will come back!"

Sakura was still concerned about Sasuke, but Naruto's resolve was enough to calm her. The blond might be clueless, but he wouldn't leave Sasuke alone without having a strong reason.

Elsewhere in the world, Kakashi and Pakkun were racing through dense brush. The little dog had picked up on the older Uchiha's scent a while back, and now the two were bolting through the trees to catch him.

It was essential to find this man, for he was one of a very few still alive that could kill Orochimaru.

"He's close," Pakkun said, "he seems to be staying still since his smell isn't traveling."

"Let's pick up out pace then." Kakashi instructed and started running faster. Pakkun followed his example and sped up.

It felt like forever, but the jonin accompanied by a dog could finally see a figure in the distance. The scent of said figure was definitely the of Itachi Uchiha. The man was slumped on the ground; he was sleeping since it was still the middle of the night.

The sound of people advancing woke the eldest Uchiha. He jumped to his feet and took an offensive stance, which caused Kakashi to stop in his tracks. Upon realizing who was approaching, Itachi relaxed his position, until he realized that something must be wrong.

"Where's Sasuke?" He asked frantically as he rushed to Kakashi. "What happened?"

"He left the village while I was sleeping, and-"

"You didn't go after him?" Itachi barked.

"I wasn't aware that he left until Sakura woke me up, and he wouldn't come back with me if I caught up to him. Besides, I couldn't do anything if Orochimaru were to find him," Kakashi admitted, "and Naruto followed him. So-"

"So he stands a better chance against Orochimaru than you do?" Itachi asked. "Sasuke is powerless against that man; he is terrified of him and wouldn't be able to fight him off when he's that afraid!"

"That's why I came to find you," Kakashi said, "I doubt that anything will happen to Sasuke, but you are his best chance if something bad were to occur."

"Can you find him?" Itachi turned to the small dog.

"If we go back to the village, I should be able to pick up on his trail," Pakkun replied, "let's get going."


	44. Chapter 44

**I wrote this chapter last night... I didn't manage to get any sleep, but I'm on summer break, so that is fine with me!**

"Smells like Naruto is back in the village; his freshest scent in going back that way..." Pakkun informed Kakashi and Itachi. "But Sasuke is still somewhere out of the village."

"Why would Naruto turn around?" Kakashi mused; the blond surely wouldn't let Sasuke go off alone again.

"Maybe he knows something and went to tell the hokage," Itachi offered, "but I think that we should just go after Sasuke."

"I disagree... Naruto wouldn't have come back here without Sasuke unless something happened," Kakashi informed the Uchiha, "perhaps we should ask him what he found out."

"Fine," Itachi agreed, "but we can't spend too much time in the village."

The three shinobi, which included the ninja hound, tracked Naruto down. He was still inside of the hokage's office, along with Sakura and the leader of the village.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled excitedly. "You got Orochimaru?"

"No," Itachi replied, "we came here for you. Kakashi found me and said that Sasuke was missing. We were going to follow him, but found it strange that you would return without him."

"Oh," Naruto replied, "he just wants to be alone. He said that Orochimaru wouldn't find him if he wasn't in the village, so it would be alright."

"I don't think being alone is the best thing for my brother at the moment." Itachi said; he wanted to be with his younger brother to help him sort out his troubling thoughts.

"I don't know if he would be all that happy to see you, though..." Naruto said sheepishly.

"I'm aware that he doesn't trust me," Itachi responded, "but his safety is more important that his opinion me."

"Yeah, but he's even angrier at you than he was," Sakura joined in, "Naruto told him about everything you said to us. You know, about how he gets upset about Orochimaru when the two of you are alone."

"I suppose he was going to learn that at some point," his reply was shockingly calm, "either way, I'm going to get him."

"He went out there to be alone; I don't know if that's a good idea." Naruto replied. "I know he's your brother, and you're worried about him, but he was really mad this afternoon."

"Sasuke used to hate me more than anything, and that did not deter me before," Itachi said, "he's probably fine right now, but I couldn't live with myself should something go wrong."

"That's understandable," Kakashi added, "Sasuke is important to all of us."

"I would like to deal with Sasuke alone; I need to talk to him before I being him back here." Itachi informed them. He knew it would be pointless to return Sasuke if the younger still had a shaky resolve.

"That's fine," Tsunade finally chimed in.

"But take Pakkun with you," Kakashi added, "he can aid you in finding both Sasuke and other shinobi's scents."

"I will." Itachi replied. It was only a matter of moments before he and the dog were at the village gate.

"Okay," Pakkun ruffed, "I locked on to him." He started running off with Itachi in pursuit.

After a brief period of sprinting, the little canine stopped. "What's wrong?" Itachi asked.

"I can smell someone else... I think it's Orochimaru..."

"What?" Itachi's eyes widened in horror.

"It seems that Sasuke and Orochimaru came to this point from different directions, but they both went the same direction from here."

"This is bad..." Itachi uttered under his breath. "We need to hurry! Which way?"

After sniffing the ground, Pakkun bolted away. "Come on; they went this direction. They can't have gotten too far."

"I don't know why you even bother trying to get away from me, Sasuke," Orochimaru said to the boy after they arrived in his newsy lair, "you initially sought me out, and now I am returning the favor. You see, I will not allow you to keep running from me."

Sasuke was supporting his weight against a wall; he felt so weak, even though Orochimaru had done nothing to him. "I didn't run." Sasuke managed to say, clinging to what little Uchiha pride he had left.

"You're right..." The snake mused, "you only sealed me when I was too weak to defend myself; that was a much more courageous move. And the second time, your brother came to get you because you were too afraid of what would happen should I catch you trying to flee. Am I wrong?"

Sasuke didn't answer. Both of the previous statements were true, even if his fear was justified.

"I suppose that it would be better for me to just take that body of yours and deal with your brother," Orochimaru mused, "but how could I resist touching it from the outside one last time?"

He knew it was coming, but Sasuke still cringed when the snake mentioned his plan of action. "Don't do this..." The Uchiha child begged, though his efforts were most likely futile, he had to try to keep Orochimaru from invading his body again.

The Sannin hissed out an evil laugh. "What good will that do? Sasuke, you have been my favorite disciple, seeing that you have such a pristine body and are of the Uchiha bloodline, but your actions in the past have caused me to put you through this."

The initial shock and paralysis of seeing Orochimaru had finally begun to wear off, but Sasuke was still too terrified to attempt escape. Perhaps being snarky could hold the man off for a little longer... "The only action that lead to this was me coming here... And I'm sure you decided to do this to me the moment I showed up at your hideout."

"I don't know about the first part of that," Orochimaru said, "you have become strong in your years with me, but all the strength in the world will do nothing if you are too afraid to use it. Seeing you these last two times reminds me of the chunin exams when you were frightened beyond belief. However, it's true that I couldn't resist that delicious body you possess."

Orochimaru took a step towards Sasuke, who flinched away, causing the other male to chuckle again. "I think that we are going to have some fun today, my dear boy."

"I'll never have 'fun' doing anything that has to do with you." Sasuke spat back.

"Come now, boy. I have seen you gain pleasure from our experiences." Orochimaru retorted, advancing another pace further. "You'll enjoy this, too."

"Just leave me alone..." Sasuke pleaded one last time, since his sense if being snarky only encouraged the snake. Being around Orochimaru caused a range of emotions to surface in Sasuke: they ranged from crippling fear to irritation to dejection which often lead to pleas.

"Leave you alone?" The snake erupted with laughter. He proceeded towards Sasuke and kneeled before him. As he continued to speak, he reached out to undo the purple rope belt Sasuke wore. "I wouldn't have come to get you if I wanted to that, and now, I will do as I please with you. And I would like to touch that lovely body you have."

"If you so much as lay one more finger on him, I'll make your death a thousand times worse than it has to be." Itachi firmly declared from the doorway.


	45. Chapter 45

**Sorry this took longer than usual for me; I'm also sorry if it's not written terribly well. For some reason, the document vanished from my computer and I had to rewrite it after I was almost done with the chapter! Uh! I changed some things in it, and I'm hoping it came out okay! **

The flames of various candles danced away from Itachi as he spoke, as if he were emitting a menacing wind solely through speech.

Orochimaru did not back away from Sasuke, however, even with the air becoming colder from the elder Uchiha's presence. No, this snake was far too clever to be simply slither away in fear. Besides, with Sasuke in his clutches, he had power of the situation.

"It's been a while, Itachi," Orochimaru said, keeping his head aimed at Sasuke, "I can't really say that it's a pleasure, though. Not after you sealed me into a genjutsu world."

Itachi used the famous Uchiha glare on Orochimaru, though the Sannin wasn't looking. Before the elder Uchiha decided upon his next action, the snake man put a halt to his thoughts.

"I figure you are here to reclaim your brother... But are you really sure he wants your help?" Orochimaru mused aloud. "And if you attempt to make a move at me, I will not hesitate to do the same at your brother."

Sitting completely still against the wall was Sasuke. Orochimaru's hand was lingering around his waistband and the room felt icy, forcing that Uchiha to remain in a frozen state.

"I don't care if he wishes me dead once more, and as for you, I'll kill you before you can do anything else." Itachi threatened, even though he was truly concerned that Orochimaru might try to hurt Sasuke before he could prevent it.

To ensure his safety from the protective older brother, the snake swiveled his head around to meet the mangekyou sharingan bearing into his figure. He could sense that Itachi would not take a risk on having Sasuke hurt, so Orochimaru felt as though his life was not being jeopardized. His opinion soon changed when Itachi locked eyes with Sasuke, making it apparent that the elder brother was not his only physical opponent.

The Sannin's body was filled with electricity caused from none other than Sasuke's chidori. Lucky for Orochimaru, he foresaw the action coming and evaded it, but it left enough time for the younger Uchiha to flee from within his grasp. With the only obstacle out of the way, Itachi had the opportunity to attack.

Itachi lunged towards Orochimaru; at the same time, he instructed Sasuke. "Get out of here, Sasuke! He's going to aim for you, so run!"

Sasuke wanted to aid his brother, especially with his regained courage after attacking the snake, but it would most likely cause more of a struggle for Itachi. Instead of hanging around, Sasuke fled to ground level.

As he travelled through the halls, Sasuke could hear some commotion coming from the dull room the other two males were located in. The noise of battle quieted down after several moments, for Orochimaru was no match against the eldest remaining Uchiha.

Once arriving in the fresh air of a new morning, Sasuke decided to wait for his brother. Even though he was angered by many of Itachi's previous actions, he needed to speak with the man. There was something he needed to say...

Only several minutes passed before Itachi emerged into the faint light of dawn. His skin was not wet with sweat and his flesh remained unmarked, showing how truly skilled this shinobi was.

"He's gone for good this time, but before we return to the village," Itachi started, "I would like to speak with you."

He beat Sasuke to his line, for the younger was in the same frame of mind. Before he could say anything in reply, his older brother spoke once more.

"What were you thinking, Sasuke? Why did you go running off again?"

"You're mad at me?" Sasuke asked, getting somewhat agitated.

"I just don't understand, little brother. I wanted you to stay safe and in the village."

"It wasn't safe from the moment you left the Leaf. You were the only reason he stayed out, and you left me there alone..."

"I was trying to find Orochimaru; I didn't leave to cause conflict. You know that I wanted to relieve your suffering, so-"

"So that's why you told everyone about it."

"Sasuke, I said that to stress to the hokage that the mission needed to be initiated, not to embarrass you." The teen shifted his weigh so he was facing away from Itachi.

Itachi did not appreciate getting the cold shoulder from his little brother, but did not want to be overbearing either. Instead, he simply put a hand on Sasuke's arm. "I only want to take care of you; you're my little brother and the one thing I have left," contrary to what Sasuke wanted, Itachi then pulled his sibling into his arms, "and whether you return the feeling or decide to hate me, I will always love you."

"I..." Sasuke started, but stuttered trying to get his thoughts straight, "I love you, too... But that doesn't change the fact that I was alone because of what you did..."

"I know, and I can never make up for that," Itachi held Sasuke back to look at his beloved brother, "I should have approached you differently; I am the only one to blame for your current predicament."

"But... But you're not... I am," Sasuke choked out, "I chose to go to Orochimaru, and I chose revenge when there were people trying to stop me... I've blamed you for it all when it's my fault."

Itachi smiled softly at his sad brother, "it's not your fault, Sasuke. There were many people who contributed to the result we are living with."

"And I know that, but I've put everything I've dealt with on you... That's easier than accepting my mistakes, and that's why I've been so mad at you, but I shouldn't be, and now I don't know what to think!" Sasuke was full-on sobbing now.

"As I said, don't blame yourself. The only one who can be held responsible for the events that transpired while you were training with Orochimaru is him. Many were involved, but no one would have known he would be so horrible to you."

Sasuke tried desperately to turn off his waterworks, succeeding after several moments of struggle. "I'm sorry, Itachi..."

"You shouldn't be sorry; I was the one to drive you to most of your irrational actions." The elder consoled.

"That's not what I meant... I'm sorry for not being able to tell that you cared; that you only wanted the best."

"That is yet another thing I brought on, Sasuke; please don't bear that burden, either." Itachi begged as he once again pulled Sasuke close.

**I'm not good at fight scenes, so I didn't include it... Sorry for those of you who may have wanted a descriptive epic battle, but it would have sucked if I wrote it and disappointed you more than excluding it... Haha... I hope you somewhat liked this chapter!**


	46. Chapter 46

**I believe there will only be one chapter after this one! The story is coming to a close! Please enjoy!**

"We should probably go back to the village," Itachi said to Sasuke after finally releasing him from a brotherly hug, "I need to report back about killing Oroch- completing my mission." He didn't want to say that name any more than necessary.

"Don't do that," Sasuke asked of his brother; he did not want to receive pity.

"I apologize; I didn't mean to upset you, little brother," Itachi turned his head in the direction of the Leaf, "either way, we need to return. I sent Kakashi's dog back to the village to inform them of your location. We should go back before a team is sent out."

"I think you enjoy telling other people about my problems..." Sasuke said, half jokingly. Dry humor helped alleviate the wounds to his mental state, even if it only aided temporarily.

Itachi identified Sasuke's attempt at a relaxed facade, but did not comment about it. Calling the younger out on simply trying to relieve his stress would make matters no better. "That's part of being your older brother; I'm supposed to embarrass you."

"Let's catch up to that dog," Sasuke remarked, "foiling your plans to make a fool of me is part of being a younger brother."

It made Itachi smile to know that he and Sasuke were on the same page again. The heat of the sun beating upon his skin paled in comparison to the warmth he felt inside as he was aware that Sasuke truly loved him and was able to share brotherly moments again. "I suppose I could allow that one time..." Itachi played out the sarcasm a bit longer, but that was the last comment before the brothers began to leap through the vibrant morning trees.

There were four shinobi sitting around in the hokage's office, including the leading lady, herself. Though the light of a new day brought on new responsibilities, her focus was still on the Sasuke/Itachi/Orochimaru dilemma. Not to mention she was completely drained from being awake all night. She looked around the room, seeing that she was not the only one fighting to remain conscious.

The pink ninja had also endured a sleepless night; thinking about Sasuke pushed slumber to the back of her mind, for he was more valuable than rest.

The girl was slumped on the floor against a wall; she was usually on her best behaviors for hokage and her personal trainer, but this was an exception considering the restless period of darkness they all experienced... All but one, anyway...

Three of the ninja in the room were concerned for the well being of Sasuke, considering he was being hunted by a filthy snake, even though Itachi was tracking said reptile. Contrary to this was Naruto. He was leaning against the same plaster barrier as Sakura; however, he was not struggling to stay awake, for this blond was already snoozing away.

Sasuke had assured him that things would be fine, so he had no reason to worry about his friend. Naruto had never stopped trusting Sasuke; perhaps it was just Naruto trying to cling to old ties, or perhaps the Uchiha and the Uzumaki shared a special bond.

It bothered Sakura that her friend was so peacefully snoring next to her, seeming to have no concern at all for Sasuke. Though she knew that Naruto did care for Sasuke; they were best friends. She kept her opinion to herself, though, and instead let her gaze wander to Kakashi Sensei.

This man was leaning against the opposite wall, his one showing eye more half lidded than usual. It was clear that he was also tired; after all, he did go chasing after Itachi after getting only an hour of broken sleep. He had Sakura to thank for that, but it could not be helped.

"I have news!" The weary group was shocked out of their daze by a gruff voice. Naruto continued to lightly snore, but Sakura quickly ended that with a strike to his head, causing him to tune in.

The talking pug continued to speak once everyone was focused on him. "I was with Itachi when I found Sasuke's scent; it seems like Orochimaru was silently tagging along while Naruto was talking to Sasuke. The two of them headed off deeper into the woods together," the little dog relayed his information, "Itachi had me come here and report the current situation."

Upon hearing the barks of Pakkun, Naruto's heart sunk into his stomach and urged him to become nauseated... "So you're saying that Orochimaru waited until I left... And- and now he has Sasuke?"

"As far as I could tell, kid. I don't know what all went down after Itachi went in his hideout; I came straight here after he was inside."

"We need to go help!" Sakura begged Tsunade for her orders, but disappointment came in place of agreement.

"The three of you are exhausted; what good would that do?" Tsunade retorted somewhat nastily since she was overtired. "Itachi is capable of this on his own; that's why I sent him on this solo mission."

As Sakura pleaded with her mentor, Kakashi noticed the remorseful expression Naruto wore. He moved from his stiff position and strode to his student's side.

"This isn't your fault, Naruto," he consoled the boy who blamed solely himself, "it would have happened regardless."

"Kakashi Sensei..." Naruto whispered in a panic, "what if Orochimaru did something to him again... I told everyone that it was going to be fine, and I even called off the team that Granny wanted to send after him..."

The other two, not including the pug, picked up on the males' conversation. "You didn't know, Naruto," the hokage added, "and we don't know the full story yet."

"I doubt that Orochimaru took him out to lunch." Naruto hissed. "What if he took his body? What if he touched his body? We could have stopped that if I wasn't such an idiot!"

"Naruto..." Sakura lamented with the Uzumaki.

"I told you not to take pity on me, didn't I?" It was beginning to become habit for the four located in the room to turn towards the doorway.

"Sasuke!" Naruto and Sakura shouted in unison, jumping from their lazy positions on the bland floor. Both Uchiha brothers looked just beyond the threshold.

"Thank God you're okay!" The blond heaved a sigh of pure relief, releasing some of his burden. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Sasuke replied. It seemed as though he didn't want to talk about this traumatic incident either.

"That's fine if you don't want to share." Sakura offered kindly.

"It's not that," the younger Uchiha responded, "I mean nothing happened to me." Itachi nodded in agreement from his position slightly behind Sasuke.

"That's a relief," the only official jonin noted, "what happened with Orochimaru?"

Itachi decided to take a stab at answering this. "He's dead, for good this time. I burned his remains with my visual jutsu to prevent his resurrection."

"So... He didn't do anything to you?" Naruto asked hesitantly, just for reassurance since he was blaming himself.

"I've answered this several times already," Sasuke sounded annoyed, "nothing happened; something was about to, but Itachi stopped him."

"Are the two of you getting along better now?" Sakura was the next to inquire.

"Look," Sasuke sounded more aggravated than a moment ago, "I've been up as long as everyone else in this room, so I don't feel like being interrogated right now."

Sakura shrunk away. "I'm sorry..." She squeaked, trying to look cute; Sasuke didn't take heed to her actions.

"Yeah, well, I'm going home." Sasuke concluded and walked out of view. Itachi lingered a moment after.

"Sasuke's going to be okay; it will take time, but he has nothing standing in his way of recovery now," the elder informed everyone else, trying to cover a variety of possible questions, "we've seemed to have patched out relationship up, Sakura." He added to answer her disregarded question before heading after Sasuke.

"Things seem to be repairing themselves, so I'm going to get some sleep myself." Kakashi yawned under his mask, allowing his eye to sag again. With a poof of smoke, the jonin was gone.

"So, Sakura-"

"No, Naruto. Don't even bother; I'm too exhausted to put up with you." Sakura snorted before storming out, not without giving her regards to Lady Tsunade, of course.

"Well, it's just me and you, now." Naruto beamed towards the slug queen.

"I don't have time to chat; I'm the hokage," Tsunade replied, "I have important matters that need my attention." The woman made her point by rifling through a stack of papers on her desk.

"... Fine." Naruto sighed and stormed back to catch a mid morning nap like the rest of his comrades.

Tsunade looked out her window to see the blond trotting away. She rose and strode to the door of her humble office, closing it quietly.

"Finally..." She hummed taking her seat again. Tsunade folded her arms across the wooden surface before her and laid her head down for her own replenishing slumber.

**Reviews from all are appreciated if you feel like commenting :) **


	47. Chapter 47

**Here's the last chapter!**

"... you understand that, right?" Tsunade heard as she roused from her slumber.

Shizune was hovering over the older woman. "What's that?" She asked, stifling a yawn.

"Uhh," Shizune sighed, "did you hear anything I just said?"

"Don't patronize me! Of course I heard you!"

"What did I say then?"

"... You asked me of I understood what you were saying." The hokage answered arrogantly.

"You have a lot of work to do; please don't sleep on the job..." Shizune begged, for she would have to pick up the slack.

"Don't act as though you're the one in charge, here." A hiss met Shizune's ears, making her shudder as she took in the hokage's intimidating words. "Here-" the blond scribbled down some words and shoved the paper towards her assistant- "take this to the Uchihas."

Shizune looked over the scrawl. "Are you sure about this?" She asked hastily.

"I'm just doing my job." She snapped sarcastically. The brunette was not about to protest an order from an overtired Tsunade, so she left the building to deliver the poorly written message.

By the time Itachi had returned to Sasuke's apartment, which was only several minutes after the younger had arrived, Sasuke was already sleeping. Sasuke, along with Naruto, Lady Tsunade, and Sakura, had all been up since yesterday morning, which made them all extremely tired.

Itachi had gotten some sleep out in the woods, but using his mangekyou sharingan dropped his energy significantly. Unfortunately for him, the floor was the only available place to rest since Sasuke was sprawled out across the entire bed. Sighing, he scouted out a spot on the floor to lay down, for he didn't want to bother his troubled little brother.

Thankfully, his drained stamina made the floor feel much more plush than it actually was, allowing the elder Uchiha to silently fall into a dream world. However, nothing nice can last forever, or in this case, even five minutes.

An abrupt knock on the door made two pairs of eyes open, both full of aggravation from being awoken.

Sasuke got up to get the door, but the sight of a body on the floor made him pause. "When did you get here?" Sasuke asked Itachi; he never noticed his older brother came in.

Itachi found it a bit humorous that his presence scared Sasuke. "Ten minutes at most."

"I didn't hear you come in..." Sasuke mumbled as he shuffled his tired body to the door.

"That was obvious by the way you jumped when you saw me." Itachi replied teasingly. Sasuke just stared evilly, not wanting to get into an argument with someone at the door.

The door creaked open to reveal Lady Hokage's helper: Shizune. She thrusted a piece of paper in Sasuke's direction. "Here you are," she said, "this is for both of you."

Sasuke looked over the scrap of paper trying to make out the scribbly words. "Thanks...?" He said shutting the door.

"What is it?" Itachi asked advancing to his little brother who had a peculiar expression on his face.

"Here," Sasuke said, passing the thing along, "I can't make out the words..."

Itachi studied the scrap for a few seconds. "It basically says that we can both live here as citizens again, and that there won't be consequences for our prior actions."

"We already knew that, didn't we?" Sasuke asked taking his previous position on the bed. "You were out of prison, and you were assigned missions. I was already living back here, and I was placed back with Team Seven, so that much was obvious."

"I suppose she just wanted it written down," Itachi mused, "though I don't know if this would count as an official document..."

"Whatever..." The younger sighed, "I'm going back to sleep." He watched as Itachi stiffly sat back down on the floor. "You can sleep over here, if you want."

Itachi smiled. The acceptance and love that he truly deserved from Sasuke was finally being given. He laid down next to his little brother. "If you want to, you can live with me." Sasuke offered.

"I'd like that, Sasuke," Itachi answered happily, "I've missed being able to act as your older brother."

Shortly after, both brothers were sleeping. It was going to be nice for both of them having family connections again, for both thought those had been severed long ago.

An arm across the face woke Itachi up. He gently pushed it back over to Sasuke, only to have his brother's body on top of him moments later. The elder sighed and moved down to the floor. "A bigger apartment might be nice..." He muttered before nodding off again.

**That's it for this story! I hope you enjoyed it! :)**


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